The Four Gods' Prophecy
by monogatari ai
Summary: Once upon a time, the four Gods made a prophecy...
1. The Deadly Math Homework

Hey; okay, I know what you're thinking. Why the hell did you start this over? But I assure those of you that don't already know, that I had no choice in the matter. The site took my story off the site for interacting with readers in my summary. So…it has to start all over against 'cause a stupid little brat erased my original file! WAH! Well…enjoy and review.

Ah yes...

Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi AT ALL…but let's all hope that I never do because to do so, I would either have to be a millionaire and buy it or I'd have to kill those who get in my way of owning it. And it's unlikely i'll ever be rich, so let's hope I never do.

* * *

The teacher glanced around the room and counted the heads that were present. There were a few that were missing, he noticed. Amused, he realized that today was the day that the math teacher had assigned a test and those we did not pass it were to spend their after school hours with the dreaded math teacher, doing review. Not something a student actually looked forward to, unless someone actually _liked_ Math, but then again, if they did, that meant they were good at it and that resulted in not having to go to the remedial sessions. He quickly tried to figure out who was missing and grinned to himself. How obvious. He should have guessed. At the beginning of the year, he had labeled the students as something and he had turned out right, as always. The Skippers were always the one that was away on and after the day that tests were issued. The one-who-he-assumed-was-a-drug-addict never seemed to come to class at all. Those were the ones he was sure of. Of course, the late ones would come barreling in…actually in five seconds or so, he realized as he glanced at his watch, which was always accurate, unlike the classroom clock, which the long hand always became stuck once it was nine o'clock and then miraculously, he would become unstuck after a good half hour. He counted down the seconds.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

The door opened with a loud bang as three students, which had been dubbed the Late Crew, rushed in, hoping that the teacher was lenient that day. He looked at them with a questioning look and the excuses came barreling out.

"Sorry; my alarm clock's batteries were dead"

"I forgot my lunch so I had to run back home to get it and by that time, the bus was long gone!"

"My dog ate my homework" the last one said.

"What does that have to do with being late?" Keisuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I had to make sure it was okay; after all, math homework can be deadly" the student replied. The teacher shook his head and sighed, "Take your seats; detention at lunch"

"Yes sir"

"Uh…sir; can I have it after school today?"

"No. Either today at lunch or tomorrow at lunch; basketball practices are after school"

"Fine" the student pouted.

A few years ago, those who knew him would have scoffed at the idea of him being a teacher. They would have laughed – not that they still didn't when they heard. However, he proved them wrong. Keisuke Yuki was a good teacher, and for once in his life, he acted like a responsible mature adult. _Most_ of the time.

* * *

The unmistakable sound of basketballs hitting the hard gym floor greeted the ears of the now arriving student. Already in her uniform, she entered the change room through the side door and left the street clothes she had in her locker. She then proceeded to try to sneak into the gym without being noticed by the Coach.

"Miss Fujiwara" she swore violently under her breath when she heard the authorizing tone say her name from behind her. She hadn't counted on the assistant coach being present for this practice. Of all the days that he had to come to practice, it had to be _this_ one.

"Keikomi Fujiwara, I will ignore that excessive use of language for the moment while you tell me why exactly you were away the whole day and you are sneaking into the gym"

"Well, I didn't exactly wanna get kicked off the team for missing another practice" she stated truthfully.

"So you were skipping class today?"

"No…I was sick this morning"

"And somehow, you were able to drag your sick self out of bed to come to basketball practice. I'm touched"

"Now, Taka; stop giving Keikomi a hard time" Keisuke came up from behind him, "Just because _you're_ pissed about her missing your math class doesn't mean you can harass her. I'm sure she regrets missing the _very_ enjoyable subject of Mathematics"

Under her breath, Keikomi muttered, "Like anyone would actually take that class willingly, you old money obsessed bastard". She said it quietly enough so that only Keisuke could hear her and Keisuke tried to keep a grin off his face, "Go shoot some hoops" he said to the black haired girl, "And take that sweater off!" he called out.

"Can't!" she called back.

"Why not?"

"I'm still kinda sick!" she reported before grabbing a basketball and threw it into the basket. It went in immediately and she grinned. Keisuke sighed. He wondered why he chose the most unreliable person on his team to be the captain. As she managed to score once more, he remembered. But seriously…the game against one of the rival high schools was in a few days. The captain should not be late to practice like this.

* * *

The crowed cheered as the team scored just as buzzer rang for half time and the players got off the court to rest. Most of them were grinning; although they were panting from all the running and jumping they had to do.

"We're winning!" a tenth grader cheered happily.

"It's only halftime" Keisuke reminded her.

She nodded, but kept grinning like a maniac. Keisuke glanced at the crowd, looking for that damn assistant coach of his. His brother-in-law was supposed to be here, along with Miaka, his gluttonous sister. He saw them after a few moments and he groaned inwardly when he saw that, as always, Miaka was pigging out on food. How she managed to get all that food into the school – and more importantly, in her mouth – was one of those life mysteries, he supposed.

The players filed back onto the court again, each team looking more than determined to win. The captains glared at one another and Keisuke chuckled. His opinion could be biased since it was his captain that he was talking about, but he swore that Keikomi's glare looked a lot more threatening than the other one's. Must be the eyes, he decided. While the other captain had dull brown eyes, her eyes, strangely enough were a cat like green (eerily exactly like a cat's) with a ring of silver outlining them. He liked to call them a metallic green color. The other captain seemed taken back at the catty glare she received but stood her ground and the game continued.

Everything went into fast forward mode from there; well, that's how it seemed to Keisuke. One minute, everyone was getting into position and the next, the buzzer rang for the end of the game. He blinked and checked the score; they had won, not surprisingly. Taka and Miaka came down from the bleachers to congratulate the team.

"Knew you could do it" Taka said.

"Oh yeah? I can prove otherwise" Keikomi muttered under her breath again.

"What was that?" Taka asked, trying to sound dangerous but failing, "I heard that"

"I'm so scared" she retorted sarcastically, "A paper cut is scarier than you"

"Why you –" Taka said in a threatening tone, but was cut off by Miaka pulling on his ear, "Taka; stop that. We don't need _another_ court case"

"You've been sued?" one of the younger students asked, "For what?"

Keisuke sighed, "He caused a scene in the mall's food court when the cashier apparently didn't give him the correct change. He was acting like such a prick that the old woman behind the cash register had a heart attack"

A few of the girls tried not to grin for they knew how money grubbing their coach – and math teacher – was.

Keisuke clapped his hands once, "Go change and I'll treat you all to pizza"

Miaka jumped up and down, "Yay!"

"Not you, Miaka; you have to go home. As I recall, you promised Yui and Tetsuya that you'd only stay out a few hours so you could go home and release them from babysitting your kids"

Miaka sighed, "Oh well. Let's go Taka"

* * *

Keisuke watched as the girls ate pizza after pizza. He began to slowly wonder if all teenage girls these days ate this much. He remembered Miaka in her teenage years; she practically inhaled her food and even if it was a seven course meal that would get a severely overweight man stuffed, she would still claim to be hungry afterwards. He shuddered; he hope that these girls couldn't eat that much. He didn't think he would be able to afford it if they did.

He turned to Keikomi, who was on her third slice of pizza, "Great game, huh?"

"Yeah coach; now aren't you glad you didn't let Taka kick me off the team for trying to sneak into the gym?"

"Of course. By the way, how did your math test go?"

"Despite the fact that Taka was glaring at me the whole time I was writing it, fine; I think he expected me to cheat or something!" she claimed, as if shocked. Keisuke laughed. Of course Taka would be paranoid. Who wouldn't be? First of all, most people – like Taka – hated it when people dressed like Keikomi did – all in black. She also had three piercings in each ear and had eyeliner traced around her eyes, which accentuated her green eyes even more. It definitely didn't earn her trust among adults…especially old people and especially if they were cheapskates.

"Really?" he answered, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey Coach; do we get meals like this if we win the rest of our games?" one of the girls asked.

"No; you think I can afford more meals like this?" he asked, "Maybe once in a while, but not every time you win"

"Awww"

He checked his watch, "And it's time you get home"

"I need a drive" many voices chorused at once. Keisuke sighed. Wonderful. He was playing chauffeur tonight.

"I'll walk" Keikomi said, "I don't wanna be squashed again"

And with that, she and a few others got up and left the restaurant, saying thanks to Keisuke.

* * *

When she got home, the first thing Keikomi did was creep silently down a few halls until she reached a room, which by the way there were so many locks on the door, indicated that it was out of bounds for her. But she simply pulled a few things from her pockets and began to pick the lock. This was an art she had perfectly since she was little due to…unfortunate incidents. After only a few minutes, the door swung open and she peered in. She was looking for something. Sitting down at the desk, she opened a drawer and dug out a book and lazily put it on the table. It looked old so she opened it and then, remembering her task, she dug through the drawer even more until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a small device also known as an mp3 player and pressed the play button and as a song from Linkin Park blasted loudly from the headphones, she glanced at the book. A sentence, written in Chinese, which she could read due to her mother being Chinese, seemed to _grab_ her attention.

"The prophecy shall be fulfilled" she said aloud. As soon as she said this however, the words glowed brilliantly and she had to snap her eyes shut to keep herself from possibly going blind. She felt a sensation similar to falling as the floor seemed to disappear from underneath her. When the bright glare finally subsided, she found herself sitting a strange place. A strange place indeed…

* * *

Review!...please! 


	2. Hell On A Whole New Level

I can't believe I got so many reviews for the first chapter. I luv you people! I'm soooooooooo happy right now 'cause I expected no one to review 'cause most of you have probably already read this and stuff, but I got so many! I luv you! So basically, I got extremely happy 'cause I went to Wonderland and had an awesome time getting hyper on cotton candy and then I got home and found all these reviews! Yes, this chapter is…well, I'll just let you read…

Reader's response:

**Xo Kurai oX:** Um…I don't think it mentioned her mother in this chapter, but yes, it _is _her adoptive parents and stuff.

**Mint Drop:** Glad you liked it! Yeah, I know what you mean. I remember what I wrote for the last beginning, and this one was much more descriptive.

**Shizuka-kage:** I know! LOL; poor you. Depression stinks, especially if it's about a story. I just wanted to get the story back on the track it was before it got deleted so I got working. LOL; (throws a party) yay! No grammar mistakes. I think that's a first. You and your perfectionist ways. (shakes head)

**Mari Youma:** Of course I'll keep Akai and the tam-thing stuff. It was comic relief. There's Akai in this chapter, just to tell you. Really?... I dunno about that rule, but whatever. Glad you like the story! (grins happily)

**Chibi-face:** It didn't delete my account; it just deleted the story and froze my account. Ooh; really? I figured since technically, Miaka and Taka are MUCH older in this one, Mayo wouldn't be in the school anymore so it wouldn't make any sense. I think Miaka and Taka will be about…35 or so in this story, so Mayo would be in her late twenties, and she wouldn't still be in high school and stuff, so I had to take her out. Hm…I'll be sure to use that suggestion. Sounds like a good idea, though I doubt I'll need it until I get to the Byakko group 'cause that's when the characters just seem to pile up.

**Dark Priestess Kodachi:** I reviewed your new story and explained stuff about your character, so read that and you'll know.

**Anime:** Taka IS an old croak. He doesn't SEEM like one. He IS one. I hate Taka. And yes, Keikomi is a gothic type person. I can't help it; it's just the way I imagined her to start with, so she'll be like that. Besides, I pretty much dress all in black and stuff like her anyway so it's just easier this way. I would update Celestial Wars once I figure out what I should have happen next…give me suggestions. I might use them.

**Saturnsaturn:** I KNOW! I had 64 chapters last time! And they took it down! It pissed me off to no end! Glad you still like it! (grins happily)

**Aderine no miko: **I'll try my best.

**Mtgranola:** Yep. Taka and Miaka bashing rocks. There'll be plenty more, believe me. And be prepared for more insanity, considering it's hot, it's summer and I'm bored. There'll be so much more insanity than usual, I can promise you that.

**Fallenstar89:** congratulations. You're officially the first reviewer for this story. Aren't you proud? And yes, eyeliner is fun. Linkin park rocks. Their songs are so good and pizzaaaa…I want pizza. All I get around here these days is rice. And that's it. I need proper junk food. (sigh) oh well…maybe I'll raid Kristen's fridge the next time I go to her house.

ON WITH CHAPTER TWO!

* * *

Keikomi looked around and wondered where exactly in hell she was. This had to be hell, she decided. Well, at least _her_ version of hell. Everything was so damn pastel colored with floating little bubbles and giggling voices kept erupting around her. So damn…yep, she decided, this was definitely hell. And now she wanted out. Wondering if there was a way to get out of this way-too-happy-and-colorful hell and into the burning, fiery, painful inferno she had always been told she'd go to, she stood up and was interrupted by a stern voice telling her to sit down. She turned and saw an old woman…floating.

"Well, at least _you_ aren't making comments about my face" she retorted, "Finally, someone who has self control" she peered at Keikomi, "Strange. From experience, most of those who arrive here usually pass out first. Guess they were right in choosing you"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Tell me, what is your name?"

"I don't see why I should tell you my name when I don't know yours either"

The woman chuckled with amusement, "Well, you certainly have the suspicion that the priestesses lacked, which led them to be tricked so easily"

"I'll take that as a compliment. You still haven't told me your name"

"I am Taiitsu-kun" the old woman said, peering at the raven haired teenager again, "Now; it is _your_ turn to tell me your name"

"Keikomi"

"Well, Keikomi, I suppose you are wondering what you are doing here in my home"

"_This_ is your home? I thought it was hell"

"Why would you think that?"

"Um…no reason" Keikomi said, raising her eyes to the ceiling to avoid the glare that Taiitsu-kun gave her, "So…why am I here again?...where _is_ here anyways?"

"This is Mt. Taikyoku and if you promise to me that you won't scream my hearing out, I'll tell you exactly where that is"

Keikomi simply nodded.

"You are in an entirely different world from your own and you have been brought here by the four gods, Genbu, Byakko, Seiryuu and Suzaku to serve as their Warrior and help gather the seven warriors of each god, plus the four priestesses and summon the gods before it is too late"

Silence greeted her statement and Taiitsu-kun looked and found that the girl was staring at her like she had suddenly grown five extra heads and was wearing bright neon pink. Taiitsu-kun shook her head. This would take a long time…

After at least a half hour, she had finally managed to convince Keikomi that what she was talking about was true and she was now getting into the prophecy that she was to fulfill.

"A long time ago, a prophecy was made. In times of danger, in which even the priestess could not overcome herself, all four priestesses will arrive in this world. To bring them all into this world, another girl will come. She will be the Warrior of the Four Gods and will bring all the warriors together for the summoning ceremony…" Taiitsu-kun finished, "There is more, actually, but by law of the Four Gods, I'm not allowed to reveal it"

"So…as the warrior…" Keikomi started.

"Yes?" Taiitsu-kun asked.

"Do I get any weapons?"

Taiitsu-kun sighed and snapped her fingers. A long handled glaive appeared in front of Keikomi, who instinctively grabbed it. The old woman snapped her fingers again and a couple of small daggers and a scythe appeared, "There; enough for you?"

"Yes!" Keikomi said happily. Taiitsu-kun waved her hands over the weapons and they immediately began to shrink until they were the size of a small pebble and hung from silver chains, "They will go back to their original size when you have need of them" she said and then, snapped her fingers again. Keikomi cursed when she felt that same familiar falling sensation that she had grown to loathe. Damn it; why was she always _falling_ in this world?

* * *

If anyone was actually around, all they would hear was the angry and violent swearing done by a single black haired girl but seeing as no one was around with the exception of the forest animals, nobody paid any mind.

Eventually, the swearing stopped and the girl sat on a rock. She appeared to be brooding and as she did, she let out one loud yell, "GODDAMNIT!" she shouted as loud as she could and the animals scampered away quickly.

"What inappropriate language for a girl" a voice said.

"Mind your own business" Keikomi answered without looking up to see who it was. Then, as if realizing that she was supposed to be alone in the forest, she looked around and saw no one. In fact, all she saw was a large shape heading…straight for her! She ducked quickly and watched with amusement as the shape crashed into a nearby tree. Then, she headed for it and poked at the fiery red bird that lay on the ground, looking quite undignified.

"The pain" the bird said in an overdramatic voice.

Though she was overcome with surprise that the bird could actually _talk_, Keikomi smirked and held it up in the air by the tip of its right wing, "Well, that _is_ what you usually get when you crash head first into a tree"

"Shut up. You people from the other world talk too much"

"Well, fine; I guess if I talk too much…" she made to drop it but got a, "Nooo! Don't!"

"Well then…what the hell are you?" she poked at its stomach.

"The name is Akai and I have been sent by Suzaku to aid you help find the Suzaku warriors"

"Suzaku sent a flaming chicken to help me?"

"Yes, he sent a – hey! I'm not a flaming chicken! I'm a phoenix, one of the most trusted animals in Suzaku's court!"

"You sure don't look like it"

"Why you…"

Keikomi pulled something out of her pocket and said in a mocking voice, "Akai want a cracker?"

"Yes, that'd be quite nice – I mean, NO! I don't want a cracker!"

"You sure?" Keikomi grinned when she saw that Akai was eyeing the cracker with interest in his eyes, "You really really sure?"

"…maybe I'll take it" Akai said grudgingly, "But only 'cause I don't want to be rude"

"Suuureee" she answered in a disbelieving voice, "And I'm going to Heaven"

If it was possible for a bird to roll its eyes, Akai did it and glanced up at the sky, "Oh, why oh why, do I have to work with _you_"

"I share the same sentiments" Keikomi mumbled, "Why the hell do I have to work with a flaming chicken?"

"I'm a phoenix, damnit!"

"Suuureee you are"

"Just go that way, you idiotic girl. We're going to the capital"

"Hey!"

And it would have been nice to say that Akai and Keikomi worked out their differences and didn't argue for the whole time they made their way to the capital, but that would be hoping for too much. They argued the entire way to the bustling city and Keikomi was just about ready to strangle the bird, while Akai looked ready to hope that it was time for him to burst into flames so that he could take pleasure in burning the Warrior. But, then again, we can't all get what we want, can we?

* * *

RANDOM NOTE: Silver Pain does not take responsibility for insanity, randomness, disturbing flaming chickens that reside in Ancient China or heart attacks given by Taka. Come to think of it, Silver Pain will probably be soon sent to an asylum for insanity soon anyways. Visit me there. 


	3. Saihitei

Well, I finally got chapter 3 done! I'm so proud…(sniff) and thanks for reviewing everyone. It's amazing how many people review and how many people just read though. 23 reviews and 89 people read it. I find this interesting. (laughs happily and pokes at the number of reviews)

Reader's response:

**Obsessed dreamer:** Yeah, flaming chicken. And she finds one of the seishi this chapter. And you'll just have to wait for the Seiryuu, won't you?

**Yukishiro Tomoe-chan:** Yeah…(cries with you…but remembers that I'm incapable of crying) and there were 64 chapters before they took it down!

**Metal Chopsticks:** Poor you. Homework during summer vacation, and that is a good point. And oooh! I get Shaolin Sister Reborn number 2 today! It has more Seilin in it, so, seeing as she's my favorite character, I'm happy!

**FallenStar89:** I sent that email back. And yes, I already reviewed and stuff for your story. OH yes…Hotohori's in this chapter.

**Golden Dawn:** he is kinda different, but hopefully not too much. And yes, I know Fruits Basket. I like Fruits Basket. Can't wait for that idea to be put in writing then. Tell me your idea.

**Chichiri's Wanderer:** Yeah. Sad. But you'll visit me at the asylum, won't you?

**Kasumi-takemoto:** Um…I don't think writing emails work on reviews 'cause no email showed up. And I didn't get an email yet, so yes…but well…tell your friend to ask away. Yeah, blessing in disguise, silver lining in the dark cloud, etc. Could be.

**Xo Kurai oX:** LOL. The 'Amazing, Wonderful, Flaming Chicken' says hi too.

**Saturnsaturn:** weapons are the best and we ALL want Keikomi's weapon…it'd come in so handy. Yay; bust me out of the asylum! God knows they need some action around here anyways!

**Mari Youma:** Akai is BACK! Run in fear!

**Mitsuki Hikari:** They're dead, yes, but that means there's gonna be four new priestesses 'cause Miaka hardly fits the requirements of a priestess. Also, I hate Miaka. So she doesn't get to be in this much. If she is, she's only there for bashing. Yes, the seishi are reincarnated.

**Mtgranola:** soft…padded…room. I want one! Then I can bounce off the walls without getting even more brain damage than I already have. Yeah, good point. Insanity, insanity…it rocks. And……I want coffee! (gives you puppy eyes)

* * *

In the city of Eiyou, it wasn't uncommon for there to be men who just kidnapped young girls they saw and sold them, or simply killed them. That was why most girls who lived in the area of Eiyou were either not allowed out much or had to keep to the market area and the shops so that people could help them. It was remarkably similar to telling children not to talk to strangers, but could hardly be considered funny.

One group of men were especially successful in their line of work. It seemed that no matter what, at least one girl would end up on the outskirts of Eiyou, lost or simply just traveling. They never hesitated to take advantage of these girls, no matter if they were as young as ten. Most girls – especially the spoilt rich ones – fainted as soon as they had a strange man standing threateningly in front of them.

Today was a strange day for these men, however. They hadn't had a single girl pass by all day; they couldn't believe it. Were people finally getting smart? No way, they convinced themselves, it was just a coincidence. Especially since they doubted all these rich girls could get a sense of direction over night. All they had to do was wait…

And they waited…

And waited…

Eventually, they heard a female's voice coming from the forest, talking rather loudly and angrily. The men smirked. These girls never learnt; it was probably another rich girl blaming her servant for _her_ getting them lost. They waited a few more moments and eventually saw a girl, maybe about sixteen or seventeen years of age, with long black hair wearing strange clothes consisting of black trousers and a black top that to the men looked more like something that the girl should be wearing underneath. After all, it was showing her_ shoulder_ for god's sake. How unladylike of her! A bird was perched on her shoulder; it was red and looked like it was on fire. It was a strange bird indeed and the men found themselves wondering how much someone would pay for that. They would find out soon enough…

They stood in a threatening position in front of the girl and waited for her to scream.

Nothing.

No scream.

Nothing.

They were confused as the girl walked past them without even a second glance. In fact, she seemed more concerned with talking – arguing – with her bird than anything else.

"Go screw yourself you stupid flaming chicken" they heard her say and blanched.

"Hey; wait a moment, you stupid girl!" the first one to recover growled. That shook the others out of their shock at not receiving a scream and they surrounded her. She gave them a look that clearly said, 'What the hell do you want?' and tapped her foot impatiently, "Well, what should I be waiting for?"

"Do you even know who we are?"

"Nope; never seen you, so I guess I _don't_ know who you are, do I?" she asked sarcastically.

"We're slave traders, you idiot"

"I'm _so_ scared"

"You should be"

"The day I'm scared of a bunch of cowardly guys who have to be in a _group_ to try to intimidate a girl, is the day that I like pink"

"You're in so much trouble now"

"I am, am I?" she asked, looking bored, "Hey Akai" she said to her bird, "Fly away for now, will ya?"

The bird gave her a scathing look and flew off. She turned back to the men, "Now, excuse me, but you're blocking my way into town"

"We're not moving"

"Fine" she said and for a moment, they thought that she had relented and let their guard down. It was a definite mistake. With the speed that none of them could even hope to have, she had propelled herself into the air by springing off one of their shorter member's face and then proceeded to step on his always sore face. He fell down as she jumped over the group.

"Well now…I'd say basketball comes in handy…especially since I'm usually trying to escape Taka's wrath"

"You bitch!" they shouted, looking at their fallen comrade and stepped forward her. The first one to approach her was immediately sorry he did. He found himself on the ground, sporting an injured gut. The next one was on the ground after receiving a sharp elbow jab in the back. And they continued and continued until they were all on the ground.

"Now, let's see…there was something else…oh yeah…" she laughed, "Ha ha! I'm a girl and I beat you! Not so weak, am I, you bastards?" she mocked and ran off laughing. The bird flew after her, shining brightly in the sun.

One man groaned, "Boss? I think this is a good time to announce my retirement"

* * *

Keikomi laughed, "That was fun"

"Fun? FUN? You could've been killed!" Akai spluttered, "What kind of girl are you?"

"I'm the Warrior" she answered, "And like _you_ should be talking. What kind of phoenix are you? I thought phoenixes were supposed to be brave, loyal and all majestic. The complete opposite of you!"

"Yeah, well…at least I have a brain"

"What did you just say?" Keikomi growled.

And so, the entertainment that day for the people of Eiyou was watching a teenage girl chasing a fiery red bird around the town.

* * *

Saihitei was bored. But then again, he was always bored. Why was he bored? Because he wasn't allowed out of the palace without escorts and when he had escorts, people stared at him the entire time he was out.

He had also just come from a meeting with his advisors. They were always going on about something or another, and it was just boring stuff. He supposed they would know however, better than him anyways; after all, he had never been to the other cities in his own country. It was strange that the people from other countries could know more about the country than the Emperor.

It was just the same as last time…he sighed.

Advisors, being cooped up, not being allowed to make his own decisions once in a while.

Just as he was about to contemplate on how he would try to escape the palace walls this time, he heard a scream of rage come from beyond the wall and something hit his head. It was strangely shaped and was made of some weird material. There were also some sort of indent in the material. He wondered who it belonged to and what exactly it was.

"Your majesty!" a guard ran up, "There's a crazy girl chasing a bird around in front of the palace; should we arrest her?"

"No. I wish to see for myself" he said and quickly walked away, ignoring the guard's protests.

When he left the palace gates, he _did_ see a girl chasing a bird around, yelling profanities as she did so. However, as he coughed loudly, she stopped, "Uh…the Emperor, I presume?"

"Yes…does this belong to you, by the way?" he held out the object he had found earlier.

"No…not really. It's Akai's now" she said to the bird.

"Tam-thing!" the bird said happily and dove for the object, but not before the girl snatched it out of Hotohori's grasp and the bird headed straight for the wall.

"The bird talked?"

"Yes…you understand him?" she surveyed him, "So then, you must be a seishi; from what Akai told me, only seishi can hear what he's saying. And those blessed by the gods, of course"

"I am indeed a seishi" he said, "I am one of the three Suzaku seishi who chose to keep my memories. Hotohori, at your service. And you are?"

"Keikomi Fujiwara, Warrior of the Four Gods. And that bird over there is simply a flaming chicken"

"Interesting." Hotohori said, "Well, perhaps we should discuss this in the palace"

"Alright; hey Akai; want your tam-thing?" Keikomi asked, throwing the object into the air for the bird to catch in its beak, which it did rather eagerly and gave a shout of, "TAM-THING!"

* * *

Well...review! 


	4. Akai and the Mallet

Everyone; time to congratulate me! I finally got chapter 4 up!...and yet, it STILL sucks! (sigh) Oh well…

I'll be answering reviews from now on…I DON'T CARE if they take it down again…this time, I have it SAVED and there's no kid to mess it up by deleting everything AGAIN.

Okay; this chapter kinda jumps. I explain somewhere down there in the reader's response to one of you reviewers about the appearance of two seishi. Well, these are the two seishi who kept their memories, like Hotohori, so it wouldn't be too fun looking for someone who knew you were looking for them, so I just explained how they were found and stuff, and…yeah…

**assassin 4: **It's okay; the rewrite it better though, right?

**Mtgranola:** …o.0…okay, that really IS strange. COFFEEEEEE!

**Yukishiro Tomoe-chan:** Yes, the return of the Tam-thing…CANNNNNNNDDDDDYYYYYYYYYYY!

**Fallenstar89:** Pink is evil. And well, you get Tatara don't you? BE HAPPY! (shoves a whole mound of sugary substances toward you) Haven't heard from you in a while. WRITE ME!

**Metal Chopsticks:** It's okay; you didn't review THAT late. Yes, you have a great pen name. Too hyper to write a complete reply without making it overdramatic…and you started school by now, right? I hate school SO MUCH.

**Chichiri's Wanderer:** yes, the tam-thing again. CANDY!(grabs for it and sends Chichiri flying your way) Catch the Chichiri 'bouquet' and you get to marry him!

**Xo Kurai oX:** Well…very likely, but I prefer not to think of the chicken's…um…antics. I'm ashamed to admit that he's my creation….or am I? I got the inspiration when my friends were talking about this guy they speak to on msn that lives in another country and they called him 'Fluffy' or something and it's supposed to annoy him and he stopped getting annoyed by it, so one of them suggested calling him 'Tampon' and that's when Akai's obsession was born…in my very strange, and insane, mind.

**Golden Dawn:** Oooh…okay; I get it now and you have a nice name. And Hotohori is still young so he has advisors who like to make decisions for him, thinking that they know best, but of course, we all know that the handsome, wise, and every compliment imaginable Hotohori, knows better than all of them put together! Um…did I review your story yet? I don't' remember; I haven't checked the stories in the Fushigi Yuugi section for a long time…about one or two months.

**Obsessed Dreamers:** Was it that confusing? Well, I'll try my best to clear it up. Saihitei is one of the _three_ seishi who didn't lose their memories when they were reborn, because that's how they chose it. The other two are revealed here, and they're found already by this chapter. I figured it's only fun when they don't have their memories so I put the ones who ALREADY have their memories in. Don't worry; Seiryuu will come soon…I think…And it's okay; I have patience…well…sometimes…but I'll try to explain if you get confused!

**Mari Youma:** Tam-thing! Glad you liked it the chapter!

**Saturnsaturn:** Of course Akai is obsessed; it's an essential part of his character. Pink IS evil…well, _I_ hate it. Not sure about everyone else. Black, red or silver is the best in my opinion.

**Chibi-face:** Yep…of course, I wouldn't cut that out. Akai NEEDS the Tam-thing! And Ryuujin needs to torment Akai about it when they meet up!

* * *

It was a place of mystery. The mountain that deceived many, stood tall and proud and each person that looked at the mountain saw something different atop the mountain. Some claimed there was a beast that hunted there, others claimed that a reclusive lord lived on there, severely punishing those who ventured in. Each was different, that was for sure and nobody ever saw the same thing. 

In reality, the mountain was nothing that special. Well, maybe to a few, it was; for on that mountain was a special object that Taiitsu-kun used to see over events in other worlds. Anybody could use it, but most were quickly fooled by the illusions of the mountain.

The object was why Taiitsu-kun was there today…

Taiitsu-kun stood in front of a large round mirror which was rippling like the water in a pond and threw in a couple of beautiful, but strange flowers. The water began to glow and a scene began to emerge.

"I hope I'm wrong" she said grimly, as the scene played itself out…

* * *

Meanwhile, in the modern world, the _very_ modern world compared to the world of the Four Countries, Keisuke was looking worried as he sat at his desk at home, marking papers. These papers were not ordinary papers, oh no; it was a very important report about the importance of saving trees and conserving paper, minimum five pages long. Keisuke shook his head, "Why did I assign five pages?" he wondered aloud, "Now I'll be up all night reading the same thing" 

Remarkably, this was not the worrisome thought that was on Keisuke's mind. A month had passed since that basketball game which they had won beautifully and he had not seen Keikomi Fujiwara at school or at practice since. There had been no notification of her moving away and it seemed not even her guardians knew where she was and they didn't seem to care too much about it. Damn it! He _needed_ his best player!

He decided that all this thinking was getting him nowhere and turned on the television. A cartoon show that was popular in North America was playing and Keisuke, though he understood only a bit of what they were saying, had to laugh at the pure stupidity of the program.

After fifteen minutes and during commercials, however, Keisuke began to peer interestedly at the television. He could have imagined it, but was it…_rippling?_

Keisuke gave his head a good whack and looked at the television again. No, he was not imagining it. The image on the TV changed and revealed an incredibly old and ugly woman who was scowling at him.

"HOLY - !" Keisuke shouted, stopping himself from swearing just in time.

The scowl grew, "Just like your sister, aren't you?"

Keisuke immediately began to count the beers he had drunken, "I can't be _that_ drunk, can I? I'm imagining a _TV_ talking to me!"

"I'm not a TV and you are _not _drunk" the woman snapped, "I am Taiitsu-kun"

"Really?"

"No" the woman said sarcastically and then started to grumble to herself, "Less than an hour with Keikomi and I start sounding like her"

Keisuke, however, only acknowledged the name of his student, "Keikomi? Keikomi Fujiwara?" he asked.

"Yes" Taiitsu-kun said, rolling her eyes, "You know anyone else named Keikomi?"

"No"

"Alright then; now that that's cleared up, how many days has it been since you saw her?"

"About a month"

Taiitsu-kun frowned and sighed, "Alright; I need you to do something for me"

"Yeah?" Keisuke asked.

"But don't include your sister in this; we don't need _her_ in here again"

Keisuke nodded, knowing all the trouble and mistakes his sister had made when she was in the other world.

"I need you to use this" Taiitsu-kun snapped her fingers and a red crystal appeared in front of Keisuke, "Suzaku's crystal to find the _new_ priestess of Suzaku; don't let Miaka _or_ Taka find out; they'll want to go in and our world can't take that much damage at the moment" Taiitsu-kun said; her image was starting to fade, "Well, I must go and find the former Seiryuu no miko's television and scare her into finding the new Seiryuu no miko now"

Keisuke blinked, "I am _never _going to look at television the same way again…"

* * *

"Wake up Keikomi" a voice shouted into the raven haired girl's hair and she groaned, pulling a pillow over her head, "Go awaaayyyyy" she murmured sleepily, turning her back to the one trying to wake her up. 

A hand grabbed her shoulder and she muttered curses around her breath and flung her arm out, successfully punching the one disturbing her sleep's face. The perpetrator in question also began cursing and glared at her, "Well, if you're going to be that way" he said huffily, shaking her.

"I _said_ GO AWAY!" she yelled, jumping up and sent a wave of flames at him.

"FUCKING –"

"No swearing at Keikomi, Tasuki" a purple haired man walked in, looking amused at the scene, "Unless you want her to kill you first or me to sent you flying at a wall"

"You wouldn't dare…" Tasuki glared at the two.

"Would too" Keikomi muttered.

"Told you so"

"Shut up, Nuriko!"

Two flaming pillows hit the two of them, "WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME SLEEP; IT ISN'T MY FAULT YOU TWO WERE UP ALL NIGHT PLAYING CARDS AND WAKING ME UP EVERYONE _FUCKING_ TIME ONE OF YOU WON, WHICH WAS EVERY _TEN_ MINUTES! YOU RETARDS!"

Nuriko and Tasuki both backed out of the room, "Yep; she's mad" the door closed quietly as the two men left the only female in their group in the room to fume.

Two months had passed since Keikomi had arrived and according to Taiitsu-kun, who had _graciously_ appeared in Hotohori's mirror, giving the beautiful emperor a heart attack, the damage done to this world was worse than she first thought. It was so bad that the time balance was deteriorating so much that the time passed in this world almost matched the one in the modern world exactly. Taiitsu-kun was convinced that it wouldn't deteriorate anymore, but she was keeping an eye on it just in case and Keikomi had set off to find the rest of the seishi.

Tasuki had been the easier one to find; he was one of the three that those to keep his memories and wasn't hard to convince to come along, especially after Keikomi stole his personal supply of sake and rode off with it. Yes, the raven haired teenager's way of persuasion were definitely very effective.

Although Nuriko also chose to keep his memories, he was a bit harder to find. They had found him after long hours of searching in an overly crowded town in an arena, very effectively beating the crap out of all his opponents. Aside from the obvious one of him remembering his duties, Nuriko joined without much persuasion needed seeing as Keikomi promised to let him chase Akai with a mallet.

Hotohori came out of the other room, "You two woke her up again?"

"Well, I was just so excited 'cause I kept winning!" Nuriko said, biting his lip.

Hotohori sighed, "You two will never learn"

"We didn't really plan on learning, actually" Tasuki said sounding rather dumb. Nuriko rolled his eyes, "I don't know why you get a room to yourself" he complained to Hotohori, "Okay, so you're the Emperor, but you'd think the guys would share a room together"

"Yes, but it's not like Keikomi actually cares. Should you try anything, she'd just set you on fire and beat you to a bloody pulp, or so she puts it"

Tasuki paled, "I forgot about that threat…"

"Well then…" Hotohori knocked on the door, "Keikomi, are you calm now?"

They got no answer and Nuriko pushed the door opened forcefully. Keikomi was conversing to the mirror which had Taiitsu-kun's face in it with a serious expression.

"What's the matter?" Hotohori asked.

"Well, it seems oh, lovely, _dear_ Miaka found out about the new priestess and wants to 'help', which means she'll try to come into this world, which will mess it up even more so I have to go back to my world, get the crystal from Keisuke, and get the girl myself" Keikomi sighed, "Stupid fat ass bitch" she swore.

Taiitsu-kun nodded, "I'll send you back now…"

Keikomi grinned and turned to the guys, "Any requests on what I bring back?"

* * *

Well then...review, please...or I will put Miaka and Taka IN THE STORY! And they WILL be annoying! 


	5. Teenage Shenanigans

Okay; I found time to write this. But it's still so short; it's just a chapter of Keikomi in the real world, so therefore, it won't be that interesting and therefore, short and somewhat boring…

Too lazy for reader's response and stuff…but thank you to all those who reviewed. (insert random happy face here)

* * *

Keikomi was not sure when the last time she felt so uncomfortable and out of place was. Walking down the extensively decorated halls of a boarding school, even more prestigious than Jonan High, she in her black colored and slightly ripped clothes stood out against the white and pale blue walls, and even more so, among the students in their prim and proper uniforms. It actually made her feel sick seeing everyone look and dress exactly the same like they were clones in some sort of lab.

Unlike what she had led the principal of the school to believe, she was not here to see if the school was a suitable pick for her. The reason she was here lay in her pocket, blinking red as a means of tracking the priestess of Suzaku. As she walked further down a hall, the blinks grew shorter apart and finally, once outside a cedar door with a fancy handle, it remained a constant glow of red. Thankfully, no one else saw this seeing as most students were supposed to be in class. Obviously, however, the priestess of Suzaku was not in class.

She knocked on the door and no one answered for a few moments but then after knocking once more, for whatever reason, the door swung open by itself. Keikomi looked in and saw a girl about to climb out the window. When said girl saw she had a visitor, she tilted her head curiously, "Do I know you?"

"I don't think so"

"Oh. Well, did Mika get you or something?"

"Who?"

"Mika. Tattletale. She said she'd be getting someone to stop me going after Kay"

"Now, why ever would I do that?"

The girl was contemplating something, "You have a ride?"

"I can…get one" Keikomi's eyes brightened at the way this conversation was headed. If there was one thing Keikomi liked more than the color black, it was the chance to cause trouble.

"Well then. I'm Naomi Nakamura; and you are?"

"Keikomi Fujiwara" Keikomi smirked and dangled the car keys she had taken from her math teacher's pockets before heading up here, "Shall we?"

"Let's"

* * *

When Naomi had said she was going after Kay, Keikomi had expected that perhaps this Kay had went into the nearby forests and had a horrible sense of direction or something similar to that situation. What she didn't expect was that they were headed to a club in Tokyo, where Kay had snuck out to get drunk.

Which was why she was sandwiched into the crowd of young adults at the moment. With a half empty bottle of tequila in her hand and her head bobbing along to the music. It was safe to say that after the first few moments of watching the pretty strobe lights and effects that the club had, Keikomi's priorities went out the window as well as, after a good number of drinks, her ability to walk straight.

Naomi was not any better off. She was attempting to say something, but it kept coming out so slurred that no one understood what she was saying. She could be saying that she was secretly Godzilla in disguise and no one would by any wiser. Unless they were also drunk. Drunken people seem to have this amazing ability to understand each other's drunk speech. It is remarkably like a language of their own. Of course, the setback to this would be that the next day, they would wake up feeling like they had accidentally stuck their head under the wheel of a truck and got ran over fifty times. Also known as a hangover. Oh yes, both girls would get one or those in the morning.

Luckily, however, for them, Keikomi had the sense to call Keisuke _before_ entering the club to ensure that he would be able to pick them up after. Keisuke, eager to be part of teenage shenanigans once more (Oh, how he missed getting drunk with his friends and singing Christmas carols on summer nights!) had agreed, much to the amusement of his student. Keisuke had also been told where to find the book and to keep it far away from Taka and Miaka, who was currently still in the dining hall back at the boarding school.

Keikomi stood up and staggered for a bit, "Well…let's go…" she said. While she couldn't walk in a straight line, for some odd reason, her speech wasn't one bit slurred. Naomi, was the opposite: able to walk properly, couldn't talk properly. What a pair.

They left the club and Keikomi waved at the five Keisukes standing in front of the car looking amused and trying his best (since he was a teacher) to look angry, but somehow, it wasn't working. Keikomi wondered if this was a good time to ask Keisuke why he never told the team he was a quintuplet.

"Looks like you're really hammered" he commented.

"Coach…why didn't you tell me you had four brothers?" Keikomi asked, sounding rather unlike her usual self.

"I only see one…" Naomi managed to say with as little of a slur as possible.

Keisuke sighed. He wondered how Taiitsu-kun would react to having one drunk warrior and one drunk priestess appear in the other world. It would definitely deem to be interesting, but first, "Keikomi; I need you to let me into your house so I can get the book"

"Right…okay" Keikomi said, staggering into the backseat of the car and taking up the entire backseat. Naomi took the passenger seat and began chattering in nothing but slurred words, which Keisuke wisely ignored due to the fact that he didn't know what the hell she was talking about. Finally, after a couple of mixed up directions from the girl lying on the backseat, they stopped in front of a mansion. Keisuke watched as Keikomi tried to put the key in the lock and after the tenth try, she did it and the door swung open. Surprisingly, nobody was home and they got into the study just fine. Keisuke grabbed the worn, gray book from the desk and they went into the kitchen, where Keikomi's bottomless (thanks to Taiitsu-kun) bag was.

Of course, Keisuke had just been joking to himself when he was wondering what would happen if the two drunken girls showed up in the other world…drunk, but little did he know that Keikomi would choose that exact time to take out the crystal and give it to Naomi. As soon as the priestess touched the crystal, it glowed a brilliant red and Keisuke had to shield his eyes.

He opened them a second later to find the two girls, the bag and the crystal gone. All that was left was the book and he sighed, "Good luck" he said to no one in particular and made a hasty retreat out of the house. Who knew when Keikomi's guardians would be back?

* * *

Taiitsu-kun was mad. No, she was more than mad. She was furious.

The two girls had shown up at the Konan palace, completely drunk and they were passed out too. She couldn't believe how irresponsible the two were.

The seishi didn't help things either. Tasuki even suggested that the rest of them get drunk just so they would be on equal footing with the two girls when they woke up. Of course, this got a whack across the head from Nuriko.

And then there was Akai.

The rest of the day, the only thing that the palace heard from the bird was, "Tam-thing!"

So of course, Taiitsu-kun was beyond furious.

And her next thought made her depressed.

…this was only the first set of seishi, and they didn't even have all of the first set yet.

* * *

Please review! 


	6. The Seishi of Two Deaths

Hey people! I've FINALY gotten this written! Aren't you happy? I'm happy; 'cause It's almost Christmas! I CAN'T WAIT! NO SCHOOL FOR TWO – or so – WEEKS!

Well…anyways…

Reader's response:

**Dragonelf 8: **Yes…I did have more than 30 chapters. Actually, I had 52 or so, but unfortunately, realized just on that chapter that apparently, my summary was 'interacting with readers' or something and they deleted everything and then some kid I was babysitting decided to press all the buttons on the keyboard and all my files in that folder containing my stories got deleted…this is why I had to start it over. Glad you like it though.

**FallenStar89:** It's okay; I know you're busy. I'm busy too. And thanks for doing that survey for my summative; I got such a good mark on it. I got an 83! (Insert random smiley here) and yeah…the thing is she probably just stole Taka's keys or something. It's so amusing to make people steal from him…(mutters) stupid cheap ass bastard. Taiitsu-kun…ahh….so funny.

**SilvyrJaguar:** First of all, true, you're entitled to your own opinion, but I also don't have to listen to you when I have more than five other people saying they like my stories. Oh, and my best friend would like to bash your head in. (cough) anyways; just a piece of advice. When you tell someone they suck at writing, it's a wise choice not to use msn abbreviations such as 'u' because that's being hypocritical. After all, msn abbreviations are not proper English.

**Metal Chopsticks:** YOU'RE ALIVE! Yeah, I'm gonna try to make Naomi much better this time considering last time, she was just…well…_there_. Ahh…hangovers. I've had them so many times…(shakes head in remembrance) good thing it was the weekend. My friend was dumb enough to get drunk before school so I had to skip class with him to make sure the principal never found out about it or he'd be expelled or suspended or something like that. Your brother sounds funny. And yes, I agree, grade eleven is absolute and utter hell. I hate it, but my marks ARE improving. It's like instinct to just slack off…(grins sheepishly). Four more days until your birthday. I'll make sure to send an email.

**CountingStarsAgain:** Yes…getting drunk is fun. Just don't do it in overly crowded bars and keep the getting drunk in a group of friends so they can make sure no one tries to rape you. This is what I learned in Health class in grade 9! Of course…that was two years ago…and yes…I'll try to update before my Christmas break ends. Or not…I have so much stuff due…(runs around in circles and crashes into a wall)

**Golden Dawn:** well…you don't really see Naomi's reaction, but you can imagine that she freaks out. A lot. And possibly drowns out her shock with alcohol! Tasuki is so…funny. It's so fun to make fun of me…I forget…did I review your story yet? If I didn't, remind me.

**O.D.:** Hm…Taiitsu-kun with a mallet. That's just scary…I can imagine her swinging the mallet around, chasing the Nyan-nyans when they insult her or something.

**Ayshia: **Thanks. Glad you like it.

**Mtgranola:** (bursts out laughing for the next ten minutes) your review was so funny! I see you found two underage girls getting drunk amusing. Of course, so would I…but I'm in that underage category so until I'm overage, I'll be the one getting drunk. (Points at the random hiccup in the review) that got me laughing for another fifteen minutes. It was just randomly there!

**Chichiri's Wanderer:** See; I updated. Just on time! It's almost all Chichiri in this chapter. (throws you a Christmas present with Chichiri wrapping)

ENJOY THE CHAPTER!...GEEZ…the reader's response took a whole page!

* * *

"Shhh"

"What are we doing here?"

"You'll see"

"…um…"

"What?" Tasuki snapped at his fellow redhead, the priestess of Suzaku, who was biting her lip with a worried look on her face. He had bumped into her in the hall when he was armed with what he liked to call payback and to ensure that she didn't rat him out, he decided to drag her into this little scheme of his.

"Uh…" Naomi started to point. Tasuki was an impatient man; he hated to wait, and Naomi was really getting on his nerves right now since she was not getting to the point fast enough.

"WHAT?" Tasuki shouted, and immediately clamped his hand over his mouth as a cool hand wrapped itself around his arm in a vice like grip. A voice hissed, "I'm awake, idiot"

Tasuki screamed, which startled Naomi into screaming, which woke up the flaming bird who was on his perch. Akai let out a loud screech which in turn woke up the people next door, who grumbled at the who they knew, they just _knew_, was the perpetrator of this early morning wake up call.

The raven haired girl glared at the bandit accusingly, "Now, pray tell, Tasuki, what exactly were you planning to do with that bucket of soapy water there…hmmm?" she asked sarcastically, for she already knew the answer to that one. It was obvious as…Tasuki was conspicuous.

"Um…cleaning your room?" Tasuki offered as an excuse. Naomi stifled the urge to laugh outright at the pathetic excuse.

"So you're my new maid now, huh?"

"…well, you know…Akai is a bird. He probably leaves his droppings _everywhere_"

Now, Akai was a proud creature. Some might even call him pompous and arrogant, or go as far as to say he was the animal counterpart of Hotohori. Therefore, it would be understandable if he didn't enjoy Tasuki's comment, even if it _was_ just an excuse. Tasuki gave a shout as Akai pecked at him with his amazingly sharp beak and he waved his arms about in random direction to try to stop the bird's furious attack, "ARGH! SHIT! I'm sorry alright! You damn bird; get the fuck off me!"

Keikomi snickered at the shocked look on Naomi's face. Apparently, living amongst other 'proper' girls in an elite boarding school did nothing to help the girl's tolerance of foul words. She sighed, "Akai; stop it…NOW" the bird glared at the Warrior but stopped the attack reluctantly.

"Now…Tasuki…I hope that this does not happen again…hmm?" Keikomi asked, glaring quite effectively at Tasuki. The bandit nodded and grinned sheepishly as he stood near the doorway, "Now…get outta here; I'm still in my pajamas!" Keikomi shouted. Naomi giggled and grabbed the shocked Tasuki by the hand and pulled him out of what she labeled as the 'danger zone'.

Nuriko and Hotohori stumbled into the kitchen one after the other about a half hour later. Hotohori was looking as wide awake as one could be after being woken up by a sleep deprived phoenix in the early morning and Nuriko was yawning. He looked as though he would nod off any time soon. Naomi laughed at the two before making them both sit down in case either of them collapsed right then and there. Ten moments later, arguing was heard outside the dining room. Hotohori shook his head in exasperation and went back to his apple.

"It's your own fault; you shouldn't have left me alone in the harem yesterday; it was YOUR idea to see what it was like there"

"No, it was YOURS!"

"WAS NOT!"

"WAS TOO!"

"WAS NOT!"

"WAS TOO! Who was it exactly that wanted to see if he could outrun harem women also known as experienced stalkers?"

Silence, and then…

"BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO _LEAVE_ ME THERE!"

"You wanted me to _stay_ and get trampled?"

"YES!"

"TOUGH LUCK FANG BOY!"

Tasuki stormed into the dining room. The other three raised a questioning eyebrow and Tasuki muttered, "Shut up and don't say a fucking word" he sat down, grabbed an apple and bit furiously into it.

The other three thought it was wise to comply with that and went back to talking, "So when are we going to look for the next seishi?" Nuriko wondered. He looked at Hotohori who was deep in thought, "We should set out today or tomorrow morning"

Naomi, who had only been here for a week or so, looked up in interest with a question, "How do you find the seishi?" she asked.

"Oh…Taiitsu-kun – the one you met; she healed you of your hangover – she gave us this sphere that allows us to help track the seishi; for example, to find Nuriko, it showed us the general direction to go; south, west, north, east, and then when we got nearer to our destination, it gave us clues. For Nuriko, it was 'battle' and 'strength'" Hotohori explained. Naomi's eyes widened, "That makes it easier than I thought it'd be"

"Yes, but it only gives you the direction once and then you have to work on the clues, which can get hard" Nuriko put in, "Like Fang boy here" at this, Tasuki growled, "According to Keikomi, the Tracker said that the clues were 'mountain' and 'sake'. So Hotohori and Keikomi rode to Mt. Reikaku and found Tasuki drunk out of his mind, sprawled on the ground holding an entire box of sake to him like a baby held a blanket"

Naomi had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing at that. She could imagine that; if there was one thing she learned about Tasuki in the past week, it was that he enjoyed and was very protective of his alcohol.

"So we should find Keikomi, huh?" she asked, making sure not to look at Tasuki for he was glaring at her.

"Yes" Hotohori nodded, "I shall go and see if I am able to accompany you this time" he said, his expression darkening at the thought of his advisors. Naomi stood up and waited as Nuriko 'convinced' Tasuki to come with them. They found Keikomi lying on the grass in the garden, music from her mp3 player blasting loudly. She waved as they approached while sending a dark look at Tasuki, who returned the same look. Nuriko rolled his eyes.

* * *

Naomi hummed under her breath, ignoring the irritated looks sent at her by Tasuki, who seemed to be in an especially grumpy mood today. They were traveling North East now, toward the Kutou-Konan border where the next seishi was supposed to be. It had also been a month of alternating between riding on horseback and walking. Hotohori was obviously extremely glad about this extended holiday of his, for he was looking more relaxed than Naomi had ever seen him. Keikomi and Tasuki, as usual were constantly arguing, but before the arguments could end, however, Nuriko always stepped in and told them to stop it. Tasuki, who was afraid of what Nuriko's super strength could do to him always backed down and Keikomi and Nuriko were very good friends with each other so Keikomi respected Nuriko's wishes and did not pursue the argument any longer. It was ironic, Naomi thought, that the person who could be most violent one was the peacemaker around here.

"It's getting dark" Hotohori stated, "We should either see if there's a town nearby or start a fire"

"Right…Akai" Keikomi called for the bird, who flew over with an annoyed expression on his face, "How far is the next town?"

"There's one not too far from here, but I advise against going there"

"…why?"

"They wouldn't be able to house you tonight; there was a murder there and the town is scouring for the murderer"

Keikomi looked at the rest of them. Judging from the expressions on their faces, Nuriko and Tasuki definitely wanted to go to the town and possibly help with the search, Hotohori wanted to make sure they were safe and no way were they safe with a murderer loose in the forests near the town. Akai was definitely against going there and Keikomi was indifferent. So, they all turned their eyes to Naomi, who shifted uneasily under their glances.

"The decision is yours, Naomi; what do you wish to do?" Hotohori asked.

A few moments of silence followed as Naomi thought about the options. She really wanted to go and help, not to mention, that was where all the action was, but it also seemed a bit dangerous…

"Let's go and help" she said quietly. Up above, Akai gave an indignant sniff at the fact that she had gone against his advice and flew off.

"Let's go then!" Tasuki said, grabbing the reins of the horse. It reared and then took off at a gallop into the woods. The other three horses followed quickly, trying not to lose the redheaded bandit, not knowing _what_ he might do without responsible supervision nearby.

* * *

Keikomi looked strangely at the object in her hand, "Well, looks like Naomi made a good decision 'cause the sphere is glowing"

The other three horses stopped and Nuriko turned around on the horse they shared to look at the clues on the sphere.

"Well? What the hell does it say?" Tasuki demanded.

"Two deaths" Nuriko said, frowning, "Alright…so we can guess that it's connected with that murder, but…other than that…"

Tasuki began to curse Taiitsu-kun under his breath.

The others just simply rolled their eyes and without a word, rode off. It was only ten minutes later that they bandit looked up from his muttering and noticed he was far behind everyone else. Swearing profusely at them, he galloped to catch up.

Naomi rode along at the same pace as the others. Years at the boarding school had taught her the proper art of riding. She shot an amused look at Keikomi. The Warrior had refused to share a horse with Tasuki, claiming that the bandit would just simply push her off when no one was looking so instead she was riding on the back of Nuriko's horse.

Suddenly, she felt a hand wrap itself around her arm and she was yanked off the horse. She screamed and quick as a flash, the seishi were all on attack mode. The man holding her looked taken back but kept his grip, "Who're you all?" he asked rudely.

"Your worst nightmare" Keikomi said creepily, taking out a scythe, one of the many weapons she had received from Taiitsu-kun. Naomi thought that she looked very much like the commercialized version of the Grim Reaper back in their world. The only thing missing was the hood covering her face.

Hotohori shook his head at the Warrior's antics, "Kindly release the priestess of Suzaku" he said sternly. The man's expression changed from suspicion, to shock, then anger and back to shock again before he let Naomi go. As Naomi stumbled toward her friends, she rubbed her arm where he had grabbed her, muttering darkly about overly suspicious people.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked, this time a bit more politely.

They had decided before that they would act like they knew nothing about the murder, so that was what they did.

"The question is…what are _you_ doing out here so late?" Nuriko asked.

"We're…uh…looking for a filthy killer" the man said. He took their silence as a sign to continue, "We found our lord and his family dead this evening"

* * *

Tasuki grumbled in annoyance. They had been out helping these villagers all night, since Naomi had offered their services. There was no trace of a seishi or even the murderer and he was getting fed up. He shot a glare at Keikomi, who was walking calmly as ever next to him and Akai, who was continuously pecking at him.

"Glare at someone else Fang boy" Akai snapped his beak furiously, "I'm as tired as you are"

"At least someone is" he muttered darkly.

Keikomi must have chosen to ignore him this time because she just kept on walking and Tasuki growled in frustration. He kicked at the ground, "I hate you" he muttered.

The girl just continued to ignore him, and he looked up and squinted. What was that light in the distance? Realizing what it was, he pulled on her arm, and pointed at the light. Her metallic green eyes widened in realization and she ran toward the light. It was a red light. The light of Suzaku.

Tasuki took a deep breath as he ran.

Finally, things were beginning to look up tonight.

They reached an old tree that stood tall and proud. They helped each other onto the first branch and began to climb up until they reached a place near the top where the light was brightest. As they neared it, they heard muttering and wondered who it was. What they saw would haunt their thoughts forever.

A man sat on the topmost branch; he was bleeding all over, but his face was especially bloody where there was a large gash going from the top of his forehead all the way across his eye until it reached just below his ear. His eye looked like it had been gouged out and to say that he was a mess was the biggest understatement ever.

He looked up in shock when he saw them and began to back away. Tasuki just stared in shock at the man while Keikomi lowered her eyes and saw the rune on his knee. This man was Chichiri.

Tasuki forced himself to look away and in a quick and logical decision, he decided to go and find the others. Keikomi looked at the shaking form of the man, unsure what to do. All the bandages she had brought with her were in the bag and the bag was on the horse…

Suddenly…

"Why haven't you attacked me?" he asked in a low voice.

"What?"

"Why haven't you tried to kill me?"

"…and why, pray tell, would I do that?"

"Because they all think of me as murdering scum…"

"And why do they think that?"

He was silent and then, "I'm not from this village. The village I grew up in was destroyed by monsters a few years back. They were all slayed eventually but everyone and everything I knew was gone. I was the only survivor so all the nearby villages called me a monster, insisting that I helped and that was how I was able to be alive. So I came here…" he looked up in remembrance, "They were far away from that village so they accepted me for a while, but then they eventually found out about it. I get nightmares about it sometimes, you see…and they eventually got more and more suspicious of me. Tonight, the lord and his wife were murdered…they immediately blamed me"

Keikomi was stunned but there was one question on her mind, "…why are you telling me this?"

The man looked straight at her and for the first time, made eye contact, "Well…you're the only one tonight who hasn't tried to kill me" he said simply and closed his eye. Keikomi looked at him strangely; in fact, this entire world was getting stranger by the way. Back in her world, it took a lot for someone to even tell another their name and age; and here was this man, just spilling out his past just because she hadn't attacked him.

Strange indeed.

* * *

Dawn had come already. Tasuki glanced at the man that Nuriko was helping to bandage. Naomi and Hotohori had gone done to the village to clear things up. After getting the entire story for Chichiri, they had put things together and they knew who the real murderer was. Naomi had also found out that the crystal she had gotten that had brought her and Keikomi to this world could bring out the suppressed memories of the seishi.

Keikomi was looking pale, he noticed. Not that he cared or anything. It was probably the sight of all the blood, or maybe not, he frowned, considering how she didn't hesitate to draw blood when she did what she did best – piss off all the wrong people.

Hotohori and Naomi came back, looking furious.

"What happened?"

"Well, we were right" Naomi sighed.

"You never told us what you thought happened" Nuriko pointed out.

"It was the lord's son" Hotohori said, "Chichiri was actually the favorite of the town; he was polite, calm, confident and he never lashed out unnecessarily. The lord's son was the complete opposite and the lord was going to offer to take Chichiri to the capital if he wanted to, to help him to his full potential by convincing one of the officials to let him take the examination. The lord never offered his son that so the son was in a jealous rage and killed his parents, hoping to frame Chichiri"

"Bastard" Tasuki spat, "And I suppose he did _that_?" he pointed at the injured seishi.

"No…most of it was the villagers" Hotohori stated in distaste, "Well, this is definitely a town I will not be favoring or reducing the taxes on" he said.

"All done, Chichiri" Nuriko announced.

"Thank you, Nuriko" the man said politely, "We can get going now"

"Right…um…let's go" Naomi nodded, "Which direction?"

"South"

* * *

Please review. If you do...um...i have nothing to bribe you with but please do it from the goodness of your heart...consider it a christmas gift! 


	7. So close

Helloooooooo……..

Right…sorry the update took so long. There were exams, and then I couldn't come with anything to write and all that stuff and I kept trying to write all the other stories before this one. And then, of course, there were the new classes that started. ARGH….yeah…I eventually gave up on the other stories, as you see, and got to writing this one.

I'd also like to point out for no purpose at all that Chichiri, in this story, though he has his memories of his past life, has different memories in this life and therefore, is not a monk or anything like that. He also does not have a mask. He goes around with a scar._ I_ think that's cool.

Well…anyways…

Reader's response:

**Dragonelf 8: **Thanks; glad you liked it.

**Silent Descent: **o.0; another name? I'm going to get your names mixed up again. Oh well; this name sounds very cool, just like all your other ones (actually, your other ones were just random) Yeah, Akai is Keiko's alarm; I dunno about you, but _I'd_ like a phoenix as my alarm clock. It'd be cool. If I didn't get out, he'd have a surefire way of waking me up: burning me.

**Nimue Sin: **Yay! Another pink-hater! (showers you with I-hate-pink stuff) Thanks; glad you liked it. LOL; yes, padded walls are fun.

**Chichiri's Wanderer:** LOL; forgot that little detail didn't you? And hey, you wanted him to have a scar so he has a scar…don't worry; he's not so sad and depressed in this chapter.

**Golden Dawn:** Yeah, well…I HAD to do it! He needed a scar! And don't worry; read whatever you wish. It's not nosy if it's right there on the page, right? Thank you for the immense compliments (insert smiley face here) Oh…I _think_ I read your story, and did you update any of your stories because I have no idea; like I've said before, you have to tell me when you update because I no longer daily visit the FY section and I rarely visit the Fruits Basket section.

**Mtgranola: **Yep. Chichiri found. And in this chapter….well, you'll have to read to find out. (pouts) WHAT? No rum? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! LOL; a bit late to be saying that, I know, but whatever. Mmm…hot chocolate….hot chocolate is good... (looks amused) Yes, yes you did.

ENJOY THE CHAPTER PEOPLE!

* * *

Fire burned brightly in front of their eyes; the dancing flames seemed to enchant them like no force on earth and they eyes followed the flames back and forth in a melodic pattern. The unearthly silence was broken, however, by of course, a complaining redheaded man, who was insisting that his own fire was much better than this. The entertainer up on the stage, wielding the flaming torch like a baton, miraculously seemed to ignore the redheaded man. The man opened his mouth to say more of his opinion but… 

"OW!" he shouted loudly as someone grabbed his ear. The darkness of the night was making it hard to distinguish the characteristics of the person, but it was clearly a man who seemed to be exceptionally strong.

Eventually, the large group to which the men belonged to, scurried away so they did not interrupt the show any more than they already did. Once in the shadows of an alleyway beside the inn, Nuriko glared at Tasuki, "We can't go _anywhere_ without you making a scene!"

"Hey, it's not always me!" Tasuki protested.

"Oh, pray tell" Naomi asked, clearly annoyed now. She had been quite enjoying that show, much better than Tasuki's usual 'Ooh; look at my shiny tessen and look at the fire that comes out and burns you to a crisp' show.

"Last time Nuriko –"

"You tried to burn him!"

"He called me a carrot-top!"

"Still!"

Chichiri came out of the inn, looking amused, "Hotohori and Keikomi, who are too busy playing a game of Blackjack at the moment to tell you themselves, told me to come down to tell you all to 'kindly shut up' and 'To shut the hell up before you end up finding yourself taking care of Akai for a whole week'. You can guess which one said which"

Naomi's face reddened a bit, "Oops…didn't realize we were so loud"

"Are you kidding? You're lucky I got here because the angry guests did"

"Angry guests?"

"Yes" Chichiri nodded, "Last I heard, they wanted to hang you upside down by your toes"

Deciding the best way to avoid the angry guests was to get to their room as quickly as possible, they did so. The room they shared was divided into two sides, for the sake of the fact that Naomi had the tendency to sleepwalk. It proved to be extremely dangerous, especially that one time when she had gotten up and went to a fully grown tiger and actually jumped on it like she would a horse. No, that was not the best decision she could have made in her sleep.

Keikomi was sitting on the floor in the middle of the guys' section of the room, scowling while Hotohori was doing some odd sort of victory dance, which involved stopping in front of the mirror every few seconds and glancing to make sure not one hair was out of place.

"Let me guess. He won _one_ game?" Naomi asked teasingly. Hotohori stopped dancing and scowled at her, "Yeah, so what?"

"So..."

"So…"

"So…"

"So what!"

"So how many did Keikomi win?"

"From my last count" Akai swooped down from his perch, "I believe the score was 43 - 29"

"Well, I'm not used to these games of yours" Hotohori said, trying to redeem his dignity at losing quite badly, while cursing Akai for actually keeping count, "And I beat you last time" he pointed out to Naomi.

Naomi adopted a scowl, "Yeah, yeah, so what?"

"So you shouldn't talk" Keikomi said.

"I remember that game" Nuriko said, grinning, "Didn't Hotohori beat you 31-9?"

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that game again" Naomi said.

"It was more like you talking to yourself and agreeing with yourself to try to erase it from your mind completely" Keikomi said from her spot on the ground, "Very funny to watch"

"Hey, what happened to siding with your own gender?" Naomi asked, pointing an accusing finger at the green eyed girl.

"It flew out the window…strange how it always disappears at the moments when you're embarrassed, huh?"

"Strange indeed" Naomi muttered darkly.

"I have a question" Tasuki spoke up, "Why the hell are we in this stupid place?"

Keikomi gave him a look that clearly said: 'you're asking this _now_?'

"Well, for one, we need a place to sleep, unless you want Naomi wandering off in her sleep again"

Tasuki was about to nod but stopped when he saw the murderous look on Naomi's face, just daring him to do so.

"Of course not" he said, trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice, "I meant, are we even sure Chiriko or Mitsukake are in this town?"

"We may as well look. Besides, this festival thing is just the opening ceremonies for a week long celebration; this is the only time when all the scholars and government officials will gather in the same place and if Chiriko was as smart as you said he was, he'll probably be here" Keikomi reasoned.

"So we're here for an entire week!" Tasuki groaned.

* * *

"Hey, watch it" a man snapped at Chichiri as he tried to get through the crowds. Chichiri sighed though he did not even hear it amongst the roar of the crowd, marveling at the various kiosks and their merchandise. Quite a bit taller than the crowd, he tried to locate the rest of the group, seeing as they had all wandered off. 

He looked around for a sign of Chiriko; so far, luckily – or maybe not just by luck – they had all ended up looking the same and coincidentally, all of their parents had ended up giving each of them their original names, whether by luck that they had managed to find personal information on the Suzaku seishi or prompting by the Gods.

"Hey, you, move it" a man snapped rudely as he brushed past. Chichiri resisted the urge to scowl at the man. What rudeness. Moving to the side, where a food stand was, he stood there for a while, looking for anybody that looked familiar. Oh, how he hated to be separated; it just took so much longer to find everyone again and by then, something always happened.

"Crowded, huh?" the stand owner asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yes it is"

"First time at the festival?"

"First time in years, yes" Chichiri answered.

"Ah…I see. Are you looking for someone in particular?" he asked, noticing the seishi scanning the crowd.

"Well…yes; have you seen a man with red hair holding a metal fan who has an anger management problem?" Chichiri asked, coming to the conclusion that the rest of them, no matter what caught their attention, were not dumb enough to leave Tasuki unsupervised.

"Sorry, nope" the man said, scratching the back of his head.

"How about any other strange characters? A violet haired strong man? A vain man with long dark hair? A girl with a flaming bird on her shoulder, perhaps causing trouble? An easily infuriated girl?"

"Er…nope…but speaking of strange people, I just had a kid – probably not even thirteen yet – here buying food, but the way he spoke, I thought he was some kind of scholar or something of the sort. Must be one of those prodigies; imagine that, I talked to a prodigy" the man rambled.

The kid he described, struck a chord in Chichiri's mind. It _sounded_ like he could be Chiriko.

Could be.

Might not be.

Could be.

Oh, what the hell. Anything was better than standing around doing nothing.

Chichiri turned to the still rambling man, "Which way did he go?"

"Which way did who – oh, the kid; he went that way" the man pointed to his left, "Think he said something about going on home"

Hearing that, Chichiri quickly ran off. He did not even bother to apologize to the people he knocked over on the way to the edge of the village, where a few villagers were tending to the horses and keeping an eye on the few carriages there were. It would of course, be faster, if Tasuki were here but seeing as the redheaded man had disappeared somewhere, he had to make do.

_Oh, screw it_, Chichiri thought to himself, using one of the girls' favorite phrases. He wondered why exactly they had these sort of sayings in their world. He concentrated and teleported to the field where the horses and carriages were kept, startling the villagers.

"Hello" he said pleasantly to their shocked faces, "Did a young boy about thirteen or so come here?" he asked quickly.

The youngest of the villagers recovered from his shock at seeing a man appear out of thin air first. He nodded, "He and his elder brother left a while ago in a carriage; I doubt you'd catch up, even with that…skill you have. They were going really fast"

Chichiri swore to himself, and sighed, "Did they mention where they were going?"

"They told the driver…Jinan, I think" (AN: I don't know what those people who direct the carriage are called, so I'm calling them drivers. For I know, they _could_ be drivers)

Chichiri nodded, glad to at least have something. Thanking the villagers, he went off into the crowd again to attempt to find the rest of the group.

He eventually found Nuriko in an arm wrestling contest with a huge muscled man. It was obvious that the crowd were rooting for who _looked_ like would win; Chichiri knew better and sure enough, Nuriko slammed the other man's arm to the table so hard that the wooden table actually splintered a bit.

After Nuriko claimed his prize, he joined Chichiri, was told what happened and help to search for the other four. They found Hotohori, Naomi and Tasuki near the stand selling mirrors with Tasuki and Naomi arguing about something or another and Hotohori completely ignoring them for staring at his reflection.

"Where's Keikomi?" Nuriko asked as they strolled along a side street, having searched the main streets many times already.

"I dunno"

"She probably went and pissed someone off again, the dumb bitc –" Just as Tasuki said this, a man went flying out of an alleyway and landed on Tasuki. They stared at the scene that befell their eyes. There was the Warrior, looking amused and proud at the same time and Akai was actually cheering (squawking?) _for her_.

"Y'know; you shouldn't take your anger out of him just because he lost" Keikomi was saying to one of the men, who had his fist raised, "I mean, it was just luck that I won that one…and the other one…and the other one…you guys aren't very lucky are you?"

"Yeah, yeah; whatever" the man who seemed to be in charge grumbled, "Take your damn winnings"

"Thanks!" Keikomi said, grabbing the pouch. She then noticed the group at the entrance of the alleyway, "Hey" she greeted. She noticed Tasuki on the ground, muttering darkly, "What happened to him?"

Nuriko could not hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing. Tasuki glared darkly as he sat up and Keikomi began to hope that Nuriko had not gone insane while she had been gone.

"So what did you do?"

"Oh; I got bored and I kept winning all the games at the bar and these guys found me there; they promised me three daggers if I won a game of dice against each of them"

"And if you lost?"

"They'd beat me senseless. I think they were expecting to win; that's why they insisted we played out here" Keikomi said, not changing her happy tone, despite the horrified looks that were exchanged, " So, what did I miss?" she asked.

* * *

Well…there you go. Next time, they'll probably find Chiriko. Please review and give me ideas on how you want them to find Mitsukake? 


	8. This is why I hate horses!

_Ugh; I finally got this chapter done. It's taken so long…with all the stupid assignments in school. School sucks. _

_Anyways…_

_**Kasumi takemoto:** Yep; long time, but oh well. Nice to hear from you again._

_**Fallenstar89:** Yeah…I kinda promised that I'd email you but I haven't gotten the chance to. Even now, after I post this, I have to work on an essay for Macbeth. Apparently, according to our teacher and some stupid critic, the theme in Macbeth and most Shakespeare novels is 'waste', which is completely dumb because all I can think about it garbage when I think of waste and now I have to write five paragraphs about it. Ugh..._

_Oh yeah…send me the profile you had for this story again. I forgot. All I remember is the name and the part she played in the plot. All the other stuff…gone._

_**Silent Descant: **Teachers and school suck; do you take computers as a subject or something? My teacher did that last year when I ditched my assignments to go on the internet. Maybe that's why I got such an awful mark in programming, huh? And nah; not that great. Your chapters are much better than mine. And in this chapter, they find Chiriko, which isn't as hard as it was finding Chichiri – a less tense atmosphere too – and I have plans for what to do for Mitsukake. At first, I was going to make him some sort of, I dunno, a 'career' that has something to do with violence, but I decided that was completely out of character for him. Or…all this ranting to you is giving me great ideas! Thank you!_

_**Hiraikotsu: **Thanks; glad you like it. Well…I don't really like Miaka and Tamahome, so that's why they're not in this story, but I'm glad you like it anyways._

_**Chichiri's Wanderer:** Ahh…I can always count on you to go all enthusiastic about Chichiri. Of course, your name isn't Chichiri's Wanderer for nothing, right? Betcha can't wait for Kairi's entrance in this story…again._

_**Mtgranola:** Tasuki bashing – in a good way – and violence is a good mix and about the other story that you reviewed for, if I write any future chapters, I'll send them to you, k? That should keep you happy. And since you were the only person to review for that…(hands you lots and lots of candy, coffee, etc…anything you could possibly want) _

So, enjoy the chapter people! And don't forget to review and answer the question I have at the end

* * *

The night was quiet and the fire flickered slightly, threatening to go out at any moment. It was dying down and yet, some members of the group around the fire had yet to succumb to the spell of Morpheus, but those awake seemed too deep in thought to be even aware to notice that another besides them was awake. For now, at least. 

She coughed, her mind drifted to the world that she so sorely missed, but yet…didn't. The world with advances such as technology, medicine that did not take two weeks to work, faster transportation, and most of all, her family, which she probably would have been visiting now if not for the fact that she was in here. She wondered if they missed her…

Coughing to clear out that tickle in her throat, she moved closer to the fire and wrapped her blanket closer around her. Although they were in Konan still, she found it cold and she was grateful that the males of the group were smart enough to bring so many blankets with them. Then again, they lived here.

She coughed again, careful not to wake any of the sleeping figures. Hotohori was leaning against a tree, having deemed it unfit for him to lay on the insect ridden ground; Tasuki was as close to the fire as he could get without burning himself, clutching his tessen like a security blanket. Chichiri…well, she did not know exactly where Chichiri was, only that he had teleported himself up high somewhere. In case someone attacked, he could be ready to retaliate.

Finally, but slowly, her thoughts lulled her to sleep…

_f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y.f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y.f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y.f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y._

She opened her eyes once she heard the soft breathing that indicated that the other girl was finally asleep. She sat up and turned away from the fire, away from the rest of the group. Then she quieted down and listened, counting the different variations of snores and breathing she heard. Then, listening to make sure that Chichiri was indeed asleep, she sighed, rubbing her arm as she did so.

The long sleeves of her long, black, yet thin, coat, had irritated her all day, under the Konan sun and she itched to wear some sort or tank top or summer clothing but had stubbornly refused to. And for good reason.

A good fifteen minutes passed before she laid back onto blankets on the ground and covered her own body with blankets and fell back into sleep.

She was, however, unaware of one less person's breathing in their sleep and unaware of a pair of eyes watching her intently.

* * *

"Are we there _yet_?" Tasuki grumbled, dragging his feet across the dirt path. 

Hotohori sighed and turned around, "Tell me, Tasuki, do you see any signs of civilization in sight?"

"No"

"Then, no, Tasuki, we have not reached Jinan"

Tasuki muttered under his breath, but the others in the group found it wise not to try to hear what he was saying. They thought that being succumbed to the very explicit curse words once already was one time too many.

"Why are you complaining anyways?" Nuriko asked, "I thought for sure you'd rather be on this stupid mountain than out at sea or something"

Naomi looked interested at this, mischief and promise of embarrassment for Tasuki shining in her eyes.

Noticing this, Tasuki whacked Nuriko over the head, "Shut up"

"Tasuki…are you afraid of…water?" Naomi asked.

"No!" he snapped, "Otherwise I'd be afraid of drinking it, idiot!"

"Let me rephrase that…are you afraid are large bodies of water?"

"NO!" Tasuki said a bit too quickly and a bit too loudly.

Naomi cackled evilly, "Wait 'till I tell Keikomi; I'm sure she'll be glad to help me throw you in a lake"

"NO!" Tasuki practically shouted, "Don't tell her!"

Naomi stopped cackling, "Why?"

"Because…just don't"

"Why?"

"You know that she's the incarnation of all things evil" Tasuki stated, "Just don't tell her"

"Why?"

"Are you going to keep saying why?"

"Why?"

"Argh; stop that!"

"Why?"

"Stop"

"Why?"

"Stop it!"

"Why?"

"STOP THAT!"

"Why?"

"Stop that or I'll set Akai on you" he said that part quietly in case Akai heard it and decided to peck at him mercilessly. He still had memories from the last time _that _happened…of course, that would be because it had happened yesterday.

Naomi pouted, "No need to be mean…so, why shouldn't I tell Keikomi? Besides the fact that you're convinced she's the 'incarnation of all things evil'?" she asked.

"Evil things are not meant to be given blackmail material" Tasuki said logically. For once. It was a historic moment for the seishi.

Naomi nodded, "Alright…but…" she then mocked an evil laughter.

Tasuki looked suspiciously at her, "What are you planning?"

"Me?" Naomi asked, pasting an innocent expression on her face, "What makes you think I'm planning _anything_?"

Nuriko shook his head and decided to have some nice, evil, fun himself. He got his horse to speed up to line up with the other seishi's and warrior's horses, "Hey Keikomi, Tasuki called you the incarnation of all things evil" he whispered loudly.

Tasuki looked panicked and Naomi pouted, "You people ruin all my fun and steal all my good plans"

The 'incarnation of all things evil' turned around slowly, "Hey Tasuki…" she said in such a sickly sweet voice that all those who heard it knew that the bandit was in for a world of pain and/or embarrassment.

* * *

"_Finally_" Chichiri stretched, "Jinan" he looked at the bustling city in which all the government buildings were located. While Eiyou was big enough to fit the palace, it would definitely not hold all the government buildings and it did not really make sense to put government buildings that usually relied on each other in different cities that took days to travel to. So, of course, Jinan, for its vast amount of land, was chosen for the building of the government structures. 

"Well, let's go find Chiriko…" Nuriko said, "Um…where should we start?"

Chichiri looked deep in debate with himself. They waited in silence for what the most logical one thought, "I hate to say it…but we should split up" he said, remembering the chaotic search for everyone when that festival had been going on.

"Right" Tasuki said, about to take off, possibly for the nearest bar.

"In groups" Chichiri added wisely. Tasuki stopped and cursed while the others just rolled their eyes at the bandit.

"Yeah…pairs of three should be fine" Naomi deducted.

They separated in the groups. After Tasuki made it clear that he did not want to be in a group with 'that bitch', Keikomi paired up with Nuriko and Tasuki was dragged off by the ear by Chichiri, leaving Hotohori as the protection for the priestess.

Hotohori raised an amused eyebrow at the backs of their retreating friends, "So, shall we go?"

* * *

Hours later, the sun was setting and they had no luck in their search for the fifth seishi. 

"Ugh…my feet hurt" Naomi complained.

"Then sit down" Tasuki snapped.

"Where?" Naomi shot back.

"The ground"

"No way"

"You sleep on it anyways"

"Not directly on it"

"Watch out" Hotohori said suddenly, pulling Naomi out of the way just as a runaway horse came pelting at Tasuki, stomping him to the ground and then continuing to run off.

"This is why I hate horses" Tasuki groaned from his position on the ground, his leg bent at an odd angle, indicating that it had been broken, probably when the horse had stomped on him.

"Because they always manage to beat you up?" Keikomi asked innocently, getting her a glare from the bandit.

"No; and help me up"

"You can't get up; your leg's broken"

"Oh, and you're a doctor are you?"

"No, just the way it's bent tells me that"

"No horse will get the better of me!" Tasuki declared.

Just then, two males, one a boy and the other looked to be a teenager, ran past, suddenly stopping. Nuriko's breath caught, looking at the younger one. The light brown hair, the eyes that revealed vast amounts ofintelligence. Chiriko.

"Erm…did you people see a horse run by here?" the elder one asked.

Nuriko nodded, not taking his eyes off of the younger boy, "It did. It also stomped on the idiot down there"

"Hey!" Tasuki glared furiously.

The two brothers looked shocked and then mortified. Before long, Tasuki was being carried on Nuriko's back and heading toward the Ou home, where Ou Dokun – who they recognized as Chiriko – and his elder brother had invited them to stay, to make up for the injuries their horse caused. Doukun's elder brother, along with Chichiri and Keikomi had gone to help round up the horse before it could do _more_ damage.

Naomi was fumbling through her bag of belongings for the crystal, deciding that she really needed to put it on a chain and around her neck one day. It would be much easier in the long run.

As they walked into the house, Naomi gave a joyous cry, "I found it!" she held the crystal up high and there was a second where the crystal glowed brightly, enveloping all of them; Doukun and the priestess were the only ones who did not bother to shield their eyes. When the light faded, Doukun had a shocked expression on his face. He looked at each of the seishi in turn before realization seemed to set in his eyes.

He said three things immediately afterwards. One was, "What do I tell my brother and mother?"

The second was, "My _horse_ ran over _Tasuki_!"

Silence.

Then, "I'm giving him lots and lots of carrots"

* * *

Anyways, they found Chiriko, so all the dumbness produced by a certain seishi will be balanced out. And the question I mentioned before…knowing that quite a few people don't like Tamahome, but for the sake of this plot, please put that…dislike aside in answering this question. Should I write Taka in, meaning that Miaka is mentioned a few times too, or should I create a new Tamahome? If I do write Taka in, there'd be lots of bashing…but a new Tamahome…I dunno. You people choose for me. 


	9. Foot In Mouth Syndrome

_Hello people! I'm finally back with a new chapter!...and this time, will you all please review? I enjoy reading what people think, alright? Please?_

_On with the story!

* * *

_

Nuriko snickered, watching the expression on a certain easily irritated bandit's face change from disbelief, to anger in various lovely shades. Chiriko patted his beloved horse on the head gently as said horse ate his twenty-forth carrot that day that Chiriko insisted on bestowing on him for successfully managing to get the best of Tasuki three days ago.

Tasuki growled, "Stupid horse!"

"Uh…Tasuki…maybe you shouldn't insult it?" Keikomi advised, without the usual hint of teasing in her voice. Unfortunately, Tasuki did not notice and snapped, "And I suppose you would know you good-for-nothing bitch!"

There was silence for a moment and Nuriko leaned over, "And another example of classic Tasuki stupidity" he said to Chiriko quietly, who nodded. Keikomi's eyes grew cold, looking quite scary especially with the distinct colouring of her eyes. Even Akai deemed it wise not to say anything to further provoke her anger.

However, Tasuki of course, was often at odds with the warrior and did not recognize the danger sign from the usual general – and while angry, safe – banter when he saw it.

"You think you know every don't you, you stupid woman?" Tasuki continued, "Well, you don't, and I bet that as soon as I follow whatever advice you gave me, the horse will probably stomp on me again or kill me or something like that!" he bellowed out in his rage, too caught up in the fact that he was more than embarrassed at having a horse stomp over him to realize what exactly was spewing out of his mouth.

Nuriko felt the urge to suddenly shudder in fear, and probably for good reason; he felt a sense of foreboding and apparently, so did Chiriko and Chichiri, who instantly stilled their horses to keep their distance away from the now very scary Keikomi and Tasuki, who was quickly bringing himself to imminent doom.

Keikomi suddenly gave an enraged hiss in the words of two words, "Fuck you" she hissed, her eyes full of loathing that none of them had ever seen before. Hotohori even flinched at all the negative emotions whirling around in those eyes of hers. Naomi crept quietly backwards, wondering if it was priestessly to hightail it and run off screaming.

"Never" Keikomi said, "Assume that I would _plan_ to _kill_ someone" she said with much venom in her voice, although a strange emotion flickered in her eyes for a moment, as if she was remembering something, and then, the horse, as though it could sense its rider's distress turned around slowly so as not to knock the rider off and then galloped off.

Tasuki gaped at her retreating back, "What the hell was that?" he wondered, receiving disbelieving looks from everyone else.

"You" Nuriko started, "Are an idiot"

Tasuki scowled, "How am I an idiot when she's the one who runs off like that? It wasn't anything to get upset about!"

"Yeah, well, you're insensitive too" Naomi retorted, "Even Chiriko knows what you did wrong, don't you Chiriko?"

The boy nodded, "Yes; it was quite obvious"

"What did I do?" Tasuki snapped.

"…do you even realize what you said?" Chichiri asked curiously.

"…er…"

* * *

Keikomi did not even know herself why she reacted so violently to that probably harmless foot-in-mouth statement from Tasuki. She was wondering this even as she sat under a large tree perched on a hill, that was in a meadow connected to the forest. The horse nudged her, whining, and she petted it. Then she took a carrot out of her pocket and it munched on the orange vegetable happily.

Well, she was lying to herself if she claimed she did not know; she _did_ know, but she still had no idea about her reaction itself. She really had no reason to say those things and she briefly wondered if she was just a _bit_ bipolar. She sighed, knowing that she had to go back and apologize for her rudeness and she hated apologizing.

As she was getting on the horse, she was taken by surprise and brutally ripped out of her thoughts when she felt a sudden force from behind pull her away from the horse. A hand was clamped over her mouth and unfortunately for her, in a position that made it impossible for her to bite her captor…which she was reluctant to do in the first place. No way to know where her captor's hand had been. So she began struggling, her elbows flying back into her captor. She heard a grunt and with a voice that deep, it could only be a man and she kept digging her elbows into what she assumed was his ribs. Suddenly, her head met the ground and before she could even roll away or get up, the man was sitting quite painfully on her ribsand she had fallen in such a way that it seemed as though her ankle was twisted, making it impossible for her to move at all…not that she was strong enough to push a grown man off her ribs, which now hurt like hell.

She growled, "Get off me"

The man sneered, "It's not everyday I find a young woman alone in the forest; and judging from all those things attached to your horsie there, you're quite a rich one too…I was thinking of selling you but perhaps I'll get a ransom for you instead"

"Don't make me knee you" Keikomi threatened. The man chuckled derisively, "You're not able to do anything except your arms and especially since I threw you so you twisted your ankle"

"Had it all planned did you?"

"Oh yes. Saw you and your group from the trees; thought one of your girls might make that noble looking man there pay enough money so I'll never have to worry about costs again"

Keikomi rolled her eyes and her other leg, which he was currently crushing with his weight shot up suddenly, sending him flying upwards. As he landed, she got up, ignoring the pain in her ankle and glared menacingly at him. She surveyed him with distaste even as he approached menacingly. She moved forward, glaive appearing in her hand and winced at the pain that resonated in her ankle.

_Stupid Kei; if you hadn't been thinking so hard, you wouldn't have been caught off guard_, she practically yelled at herself. She tried to move again, only to have her other leg, crushed by the man and then using immense force to kick him away, wobble slightly.

_Damn it all; I can't fight if _both _my legs don't work!_

Growling, she wondered how far away the others were, and if they could possibly hear her if she shouted. Then remembering how far off she had ridden off, she realized that they probably could not. She would have to grin and bear it.

She turned her glaive into a offensive position and waited for the man to approach and _attempt _to attack around the glaive. Once he was an arm length's away, she lashed out with the weapon just as a jet of flame came from the trees. The flames spread across the glaive, heading the metal rod up. Keikomi gave a yelp of pain as her hand was burned and quickly dropped the weapon.

"You really _do_ seem to like pissing off the wrong people don't you?" came the familiar voice from the trees. Keikomi shrugged, "Wasn't my fault this time"

"Oh really?" Tasuki asked, stepping out from the trees, tessen in hand. He smirked at Keikomi, who he deemed – with relief – did not seem so pissed off at him anymore.

"Yes!" Keikomi insisted, "It's not like I _try_ piss people off in the first place" she added. She paused, "What're you doing here in the first place?"

"Hey, I just probably saved you from limping to civilization" Tasuki reminded her.

Keikomi shrugged, "Yeah…you're probably right about that"

Tasuki looked shocked at the fact that she admitted it.

"Thanks" she added and after a moment's silence, "…sorry about my outburst"

Tasuki began to wonder if she had gotten hit on the head or something because the warrior that he knew and argued with never apologized, nor admitted he was right. At all….well, at least to him. The others she got along with perfectly fine.

"Why're you looking at me like I've grown two heads?" Keikomi asked suspiciously.

"…no reason" he felt he may as well not piss her off even more.

Then he paused, cursing the fact that Nuriko and the others had made him feel guilty about what he had said. It was not as if he had _meant_ to say those things. He sighed, knowing that the others would give him hell if he did not apologize, "Uh…I'm sorry too" he said, "About what I said…"

She looked at him incredulously, "…it's fine"

If not for the fact that nobody but someone blessed by the gods could use the other seishis' (warrior's) weapons, he would have thought that she was an imposter. In fact, he was still thinking that right now.

"Damn leg" Keikomi muttered, attempted to walk to the horse, which was pretty far away by now. Horses had a tendency to run when startled and that was definitely what this horse had done. Tasuki glanced at the leg which was now swollen and purplish in colour; he winced. That looked painful. Without thinking, he suddenly lifted her up, and slung her over his shoulder.

"Tasuki! What the hell! I can walk! Put me down!" came the protests but he ignored them, knowing very well how hard it was to walk on a twisted ankle and brought her to the horse, plopped her onto the saddle and then jumped on behind her, "Right. Of _course_ you could walk all that way, but this way is faster" he smirked at her indignant expression, "And besides, we should get you to the village; I'm sure there's a doctor in town somewhere"

She merely groaned and buried her head in her hands, "Oh good god. _Tasuki_ is being nice…the horrors" she muttered, which caused him to adopt an expression similar to her indignant one. He recognized the teasing tone however and found it somewhat safe to argue back.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not a bitch"

"Pyromaniac"

"Takes one to know one"

"Fang boy"

"Tomboy!"

* * *

"Yes…there is a doctor in town, but I don't think he offers his services to just anyone" the merchant told them, peering curiously at Keikomi's injury, which had gotten even worse than before.

"Why not?" Tasuki growled, "I thought he was a doctor!"

"Well, he's in high demand right now" the merchant told them, "Everybody's coming in to see him"

Keikomi rolled her eyes, "Aren't doctors supposed to care about patients and helping people…not money?"

"You can try going to his clinic, but…" the merchant shrugged, "Don't count on it though"

"You wanna see the 'doctor'?" Tasuki asked.

Keikomi gave him a look that plainly said 'do I look stupid to you?'.

"No then…so…maybe there's another doctor in town?"

Keikomi shrugged, "Most likely"

A woman passing by caught the last part of the conversation and began to speak to them, "You don't want to visit that idiot doctor either?" she asked.

Keikomi raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Good! At least someone in this town is smart!" the woman said, "I know a doctor, and he doesn't trick sick patients with all these so-called 'healing methods'"

"…is that why you're angry?" Tasuki asked curiously.

"Yes! He gave me bad medicine!" the woman said, enraged, "But nobody believes me"

"Asshole" Keikomi and Tasuki muttered at the same time.

"Come; he's on the other side of town" the woman said, leading the way. Shrugging, the two pyromaniacs followed her to a house located on the field near the forest.

The woman then waved to them, "Go on in; I imagine his wife is there. I have to finish my shopping"

So, they went up to the door (meaning they rode the horse to the door) and knocked on it. Tasuki's mouth dropped when he saw a woman who was the exactly replica of…

"Shouka!" he asked, remembering Mitsukake's dead lover.

"Yes…do I know you?"

"Oh…no…" Keikomi said, "But I have a twisted ankle…and my friend here has his foot in his mouth; could you help us?"

"…I'm sure the ankle can be fixed...the foot in mouth, however…" Shouka's eyes twinkled with mirth, "I'll bring you inside"

Keikomi nodded, wondering how to get into the house from the horse. Shouka smiled, "And perhaps your friend could carry you inside?"

Keikomi grimaced. Great. Being carried around _twice_ in one day. She hated being hurt. Tasuki smirked at her expression but made no comment. As soon as he walked into the room where the doctor did his work, however, his jaw dropped. There, sitting there, mixing herbs, was Mitsukake!

He almost slipped up and called out to his former friend, but thankfully, Shouka unknowingly saved him.

"Juan! This girl needs her ankle checked"

"Sit her down over there" Juan pointed to the cushioned couch used for examining patients. Tasuki put Keikomi down and then whispered, "That's Mitsukake; I'm gonna see if Naomi's here yet" he told her. She nodded and he said a quick 'I'll be back later' to Shouka and Juan and left.

"Well then…how did you manage to do _this_?" Juan asked, gently prodding her leg.

"Attacked" Keikomi answered grudgingly.

"Where?" Juan asked, startled at her answer.

"Forest"

"Well, those _are _dangerous parts" he rubbed some sort of cream made from herbs onto her ankle, causing it to feel cool and soothing, "Rest it for the next day or so and it should be fine"

"Thanks doctor"

"Now…to wait for your friend to get back" Juan said. Just as he said this, Tasuki came back with the rest of the group, most of whom were staring at Juan in something akin to disbelief. Naomi, the only not overcome with memories, walked up to Juan and lifted the crystal out from under her shirt. The crystal glowed brightly and then…

* * *

"Shouka was amazingly calm about the fact that her husband is Mitsukake"

"Well, assuming she _is_ the reincarnation of Shouka from before…she probably suspected subconsciously" Hotohori mused.

"Well, we'll spend one more day here to let Keikomi's ankle heal and then we'll set off"

"Alright; Mitsukake was wondering if Shouka could come with us" Naomi trailed off, "Is it safe?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She'll have Mitsukake with her; and this way, he can restart his clinic in the capital instead of this town where he gets no profit…even if he's only a doctor because he enjoys it"

"True" Chiriko nodded, "...and I think Mitsukake is secretly glad she's coming in case he gets back here and finds her dead…like last time"

"Yeah" Nuriko nodded. He paused, "You think after all this, those two will stop arguing?"

Hotohori raised an eyebrow, "I doubt that will happen soon"

"Why'd you say that?"

"Just listen" Hotohori told him. They all fell silent and in the distance, they could hear…

"Bitch"

"Pyromaniac"

"Sorry excuse for a lady"

Naomi rolled her eyes and the rest listened with amusement.

"Damn it! I don't need to be carried!" came the yell of frustration.

* * *

And…one more thing. Next chapter is the final seishi: Tamahome. D'you people think that it should stay Taka or should there be a new Tamahome? Tell me. Please! 


	10. Mission: Tamahome

Alright, no reader's response this time since it's been so long since I updated…-.-" It's been about two months…so yeah…

Thanks to those who reviewed and I hope you all like this chapter…

* * *

It was a long, searing hot day that found the Suzaku seishi, priestess and warrior arriving back in the Konan capital, trying to stay under the shade of the buildings, but not really succeeding due to the fact that their group was so large. Naomi was especially hot at the moment for she thought it would be rather nice to for once fit in with the rest of the population and wear standard women's clothing…of course, she neglected to remember that there was a different between winter and summer clothing and accidentally purchased winter clothing, for which she was suffering for right now.

To further her ire, however, the rest of them seemed to have no problem with the head; due to the fact that the seishi had all gotten used to the immense heat waves after living in Konan all their lives (both of them) along with having the misfortunate to journey into the desert of Sairou once, they were all nonplussed by the rather scorching weather that Naomi was simply not used to.

"You sure you don't want to take me up on my offer?" Keikomi asked in an amused tone as she looked at the redhead in concern, "Don't want you to get a heatstroke now…"

Naomi glowered, "…no…"

"If you're sure…" Keikomi shrugged before walking off. Naomi cursed the fact that Keikomi had thought to persuade Taiitsu-kun to give her something to carry her things in without hindering her movements. A simple gem powered with magic that had melded into the shoulder bag that she carried had made it to Keikomi had everything she needed there. Too bad Keikomi had been too drunk at that time to tell Naomi about it and Naomi had been too drunk to even _begin_ thinking ahead.

Which was why Naomi was currently glaring at Keikomi, who was dressed in a change of summer clothing that consisted of shorts and a tank top, that while were still dark in colour like the rest of her clothes, was enough to keep her from being in Naomi's situation: completely scorched.

"…if you're so sure…" Keikomi started, "Then would you stop glaring?"

Naomi sighed, putting her hands up in defeat, "Fine! I'll borrow some clothes!"

Keikomi raised an eyebrow, "I thought - "

"Alright, I was wrong. These clothes _are_ stifling and hot and intolerable; now, give me some normal summer clothes!"

Keikomi smirked victoriously as she looked around for a place where Naomi could possibly change. Seeing a rather rundown bar, she grinned, grabbing both Tasuki and Nuriko by their sleeves and dragging them inside, with Naomi following, looking confused. Keikomi called out to the seishi, "Continue on to the palace; this might take a while!"

The dimly lit was just as it was on the outside: rundown, and had quite a few broken pieces of furniture indicating that fights often occurred here between the drunken men that stumbled in. Seeing two girls in the bar, however, got quite a few heads turning. Nuriko was perplexed, "Why are we in here?"

Keikomi merely grinned, "Well, Naomi needs a place to change…"

She bounded over to the barkeep, "Hello"

"Whatcha want?" he grunted.

"Well, my good sir" Keikomi started in one of _those_ voices. The kind of voice that suggested that she wanted something, "My friend here needs a place to change and we would rather appreciate it if you lent us an empty room"

"No; unless you have – "

Keikomi placed something rather shiny and – to Nuriko, Naomi and Tasuki's surprise – gold on the grimy counter, "My other friends here will gladly drink however much that will buy while she changes of course"

Tasuki almost gulped at the glint in her green eyes, however, that was overruled by the fact that she had just produced a gold Ryo out of nowhere.

"Where the hell did ya get that!" he asked.

"My dear Tasuki, you didn't think I'd spend _all day_ in that crowded town with all the festivities and scholars – "

"Kirou" Nuriko interjected, "Where we were before Jinan"

"Yes…you didn't think I'd spend _all_ _day_ in Kirou and only win a few daggers at the end of the day did I?" Keikomi grinned at their gob smacked expressions, "I won quite a bit of money"

The barkeep had finally snapped out of the shock of seeing real, actual, _gold_ on his counter and nodded numbly, "You can use the backroom" he pointed at the closed door behind the bar itself.

"Why thank you" Keikomi said, leading Naomi inside.

Tasuki and Nuriko blinked at each other before Tasuki broke in a fanged grin, "Well, Nuriko; sake is sake"

"Oh yes" Nuriko rubbed his hands together in glee, "This time, Fang boy, you won't last against me"

"You were lucky last time"

"Keep telling yourself that"

f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y. f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y. f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y. f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y. f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y.

"I can't help but feel just a bit scared" Naomi commented to Keikomi as they neared the palace, "That they drank so much and are still standing, looking and sounding like they haven't even taken a drink"

Keikomi was wearing a slightly freaked out expression as she poked and prodded the two seishi, whose eyes were twitching at the constant poking, "I know…I mean, they each drank half a gold Ryo's worth of sake! I thought they'd be passed out by now!"

"…will ya stop poking me!" Tasuki exclaimed, annoyed, shooting a look at Keikomi. She immediately withdrew her finger, plastering on an innocent expression.

Naomi suddenly frowned, something was bugging her that she had been too scorched to pay attention to earlier on, "…I thought there were seven seishi?" she asked.

Startled, the other three turned, "There are…" Nuriko answered, "Last one's Tamahome"

"But why are we heading back to the palace when we only have six?"

"Oh, well, _apparently_, my math teacher was once Tamahome" Keikomi rolled her eyes, "Of course, he doesn't look like it" she added under her breath.

Akai suddenly flew toward them from within' the palace walls and Keikomi looked up, bored, "No, Akai, for the fiftieth time today, I will _not_ give you a tam-thing or a lollipop"

"I wasn't going to ask!" Akai bristled indignantly.

"Sure you weren't"

"I really wasn't!"

Silence, followed by disbelieving stares.

"Alright, so maybe I was, but there's something else"

"What?" Nuriko asked curiously.

"Taiitsu-kun's here"

To no one's surprise, Tasuki shuddered while cursing under his breath.

"What does she want?" Naomi asked curiously.

"I dunno; she said we had to wait for you, so hurry up" Akai responded, flying off. The four shrugged and proceeded into the palace and followed the bird into the throne room where Hotohori was dressed in his palace garb and the rest were staring at Taiitsu-kun, trying not to wince.

Tasuki shut his eyes upon entering the room, relying on Nuriko's grip forcing him into the room, to lead him. Keikomi rolled her eyes, "Hello Taiitsu-kun"

"Warrior" Taiitsu-kun said while scowling at Tasuki.

"Tasuki, you might want to open you eyes before – too late" Naomi winced as a chair crashed onto Tasuki's head courtesy of the rather annoyed creator.

"OW! What te hell was that for!" Tasuki complained as he rubbed his head in pain.

"So, why are you here?" Chichiri asked.

"Because" Taiitsu-kun glared, "I heard your presumptions that Taka is still the Tamahome you need to complete the ceremony, and I'm here to tell you that you're wrong" she stated simply.

The two girls were the only ones not shocked by the news, seeing as one did not know Taka and the other disliked Taka. In fact, the one that disliked Taka was rather happy at the news.

"What?" Hotohori asked cautiously, "But Taka and Tamahome are one and the same…"

"True, but unfortunately, Taka is now an unlikely candidate to be a seishi at all" she sighed, wondering how to explain this, "Basically, there are quite a few things that made it so…first is the fact that he is still in the same body he was in all that many years ago after he got reborn, but add that to the fact that he was being reborn as an _average _male with no particular high ki whatsoever, when he merged with Tamahome during the fight with Tenkou, his body could not take it for long and after the battle, he did not notice it because he had no need of his powers but the Tamahome side of him had been locked away; even if he tried to use those powers now, it would not work"

"But…couldn't we just unlock it somehow?" Chiriko frowned.

"If you want to kill him in the process, yes" Taiitsu-kun answered bluntly. She closed her eyes, thinking of some sort of analogy to help them understand, "It's like shoving a man, say, Mitsukake's size, into a small, weak wooden wardrobe that would barely fit someone two thirds his size; as you might imagine, the wardrobe would eventually, well, break. That's what would happen to Taka if you did that, so no, he can no longer be the new Tamahome"

"So…then, how do we get Tamahome out of Taka?" Naomi asked, getting right to the point seeing as the seishi including Chiriko were all too shocked to do anything else but let the information absorb at the moment, "I mean, we'll have to won't we? To complete the ceremony?"

"Precisely" Taiitsu-kun looked pleased, "That's correct. And you'll be the one doing that"

"Oh, oka – WHAT!" Naomi turned after the words processed in her mind.

"Well, obviously, you'll be the one to do that" Taiitsu-kun stated matter-of-factly.

"Why can't someone else do it? I don't know _how_!" Naomi insisted.

"Because you're the priestess of Suzaku; you're Tamahome's priestess"

Naomi sighed, "But I still don't know how to do it"

"Oh don't worry about that; it'll be instinctive" Taiitsu-kun said almost too happily. Naomi looked at her suspiciously but nodded, "When do we do this?"

"Once you head back to your world of course" the creator told her, "I'll be sending Keikomi too, for her to make her usual visit to her guardians" here, a look was shot at Keikomi, who rolled her eyes, "She knows how to find out where Taka is"

"Well then…let's go!" Naomi grinned, eager to see the large modern buildings of the city again.

"You're both ready to go?" Taiitsu-kun asked, "Nothing you need?" she directed her next question at Keikomi, "You do realize that I'll be sending you to the next country after you get back here don't you? Not much time to dawdle around you know"

"That's fine" she replied even as her body began to disappear.

* * *

As soon as Keisuke finished reading the last line that had appeared in the book, there was a sudden glow emanating from it and he leapt back as two bodies appeared in his living room. Tetsuya gave a yelp as one of the bodies landed on him and Yui had already smartly moved to the other side of the room from the book.

Keikomi sat up, blinking, "This doesn't look familiar…" she remarked more to herself than to anyone else. As soon as she started looking at her surroundings, her eyes fell upon Keisuke and she grinned, "Coach!"

"How was your trip?" Keisuke asked, grinning back.

"You should know. You read about it" Keikomi indicated the book sitting on the coffee table. Nobody ever said that Keikomi Fujiwara was slow.

Keisuke almost shook his head in exasperation as he laughed, "Gambling at such a young age?" he chided kiddingly.

Yui smiled, "Like you should talk, Keisuke; you were drinking sake at fourteen"

"So?"

Before long, Naomi had come to and while Yui called Miaka and Taka to tell them of the situation, Keisuke found himself being the chauffeur once more as he drove Naomi to her house and then Keikomi to hers, so they could get some things they may need as well as making excuses as to where they were and would be for as long as it took for all this to be over. Well, Keikomi had made an excuse; Naomi had to tell her brother what was going on before her brother would let her out of the house.

"Yui just called" Keisuke stated as Keikomi got back into the car, "She says that it took a while but Taka is finally willing to do whatever you need him to do"

Keikomi made a face at the mention of Taka but said nothing, much to the amusement of Naomi, who knew that the black haired girl had quite a few choice words to describe her math teacher.

Entering Miaka and Taka's apartment, the three had completely different expressions on their faces from the other. Naomi had a nervous expression due to the fact that she still had no idea what she was supposed to do; Keisuke was looking amused and Keikomi was glancing suspiciously around her.

"Don't worry Fujiwara; I don't plan to give you math homework" Taka snapped, seeing her expression.

Keikomi adopted a completely innocent expression, "I don't know what you mean _sir_"

Taka rolled his eyes before turning away from his least attentive student to introduce himself to Naomi. Miaka had already started conversing with her and Naomi was looking slightly freaked out at the woman's endless barrage of questions.

"Let's get this done and over with" Naomi sighed after a few moments. She stepped up to Taka and closed her eyes, still trying to figure out how she was supposed to do this. She was utterly surprised, then, when almost as if something was controlling her, she placed her left hand directly where his heart was. A red glow began to come from the man's chest and stopped at her hand. Then, the glow gave a bright burst for a moment before it disappeared entirely. Taka, most likely from having part of his soul taken out, collapsed where he was.

"…did it work?" Naomi asked, looking slightly worn out.

"Yep" Keisuke, Keikomi, Yui and Tetsuya chorused.

"How are you sure?" Miaka asked, looking confused at them.

Naomi looked questionably at them too, not quite sure how they were able to tell that it worked.

"Look at your arm" Keikomi told her. Naomi looked down and there, on her arm, near her elbow, were two runes much like the seishis' symbol except that it was glowing lightly, pulsating every few moments. She tilted her head, "What do they say?"

"One says soul; other says ogre, which is Tamahome's symbol" Tetsuya told her, "Which means that it worked; so all you have to do, I suppose is do the same thing you just did to whoever's supposed to be the new Tamahome and it'll transfer to whoever it is"

Naomi nodded in understanding, "Erm…should we get back then?" she asked Keikomi, who nodded, lifting her bag back onto her shoulder.

"Yep…where's the book?"

Yui handed it to her, "Here"

"Great" Naomi took a deep breath for some reason and opened the book.

* * *

Taiitsu-kun opened her eyes suddenly, feeling that strong ki that meant that both the priestess and the warrior were both arriving. She was currently in the dining room with the seishi, who had gotten hungry as all mortals do, and she had followed them, waiting for the two to arrive. She snapped her fingers quickly and the food on the large table disappeared.

Just as two bodies fell on the table.

"Holy shit" Keikomi grumbled as she sat up, rubbing her back, "I ain't ever doing _that_ again!"

"That's what you get for landing on a table" Tasuki remarked.

"Not like I planned to land on it" Keikomi shot back, "I can't exactly see where I land when I go back and forth"

Taiitsu-kun rolled her eyes at their banter, "Did you get it?" she asked.

"Yep!" Naomi held up her arm, "Right here"

"Good" Taiitsu-kun said, pleased, "Now all you have to do is to put it in the right person…"

"And who would that be?" Hotohori asked, "You said before that it couldn't be unlocked in just an average man…"

"It can't…not in an everyday average man, but rather a young one whom was alive during the first time you were alive" Taiitsu-kun said, "This person would have spent an incredible amount of time and had a strong connection with one or two of you, enough so that your unusual ki would have affected this person's rather normal ki, and that would enable the ki to adapt safer to Tamahome's high ki. It will still be rather painful to do this, but it's the only choice…"

"When we were alive…?" Nuriko asked, "…well…my brother was reborn in this life and he does seem to remember things from his past life at times…" he mused.

"Shouka?" Mitsukake asked, "It could be her…"

Shouka, at the mention of her name, turned, startled that she could be involved in this conversation. She never did ask many questions about her husband's past life, assuming that this was her first life. Although,it did explain those strange dreams she had…of things that had never happened but seemed like they did.

"No to both" Taiitsu-kun smiled, seemingly having fun with having them guess, "Rokou is not due to the fact that while you two _were_ close before Kourin's death, it takes much longer for the connection that is needed to be built"

"And Shouka?" Mitsukake asked.

"Well, technically, only Mitsukake knew Shouka when she was alive" Taiitsu-kun said, shrugging, "And along with Rokou, having only one seishi's ki influencing theirs would not be enough…"

"So…who's left?" Chichiri asked.

"Someone who remembers their past life – everything, from childhood to death" Taiitsu-kun hinted.

"Why don't you just tell us!" Naomi asked irritably; she hated guessing games.

"Yeah, you – oh shit! Wait! I have it!" Tasuki shouted suddenly. Curious eyes turned to him.

"Well?" Chiriko asked, "Who is it?"

"Kouji! Before we died, I was alwayson Mt. Reikaku with him and Chichiri would visit us a lot, until he eventually just stayed on the mountain with us; it has to be Kouji; hell, there's gotta be at least thirty years of connection build up from that!"

Taiitsu-kun finally did the one thing that none of them expected to ever see. She smiled and congratulated Tasuki on being right.

Chichiri slapped his hand to his forehead, "Why didn't I think of that?" he muttered.

"Because Fate felt like giving Tasuki an abnormally bright moment" Keikomi drawled, earning snickers from everyone but Tasuki, who glared. She looked innocently at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Well, then; now that you've finally figured it out" Taiitsu-kun stated, "You Suzaku seishi can rush off and get to Kouji while I send Keikomi here over to the other country"

"Right" Keikomi said, picking up her bag, "Two questions first. Where am I going? And is Akai coming?"

"You're going to Kutou and I believe Akai has found it in his best interest to stay in the palace gnawing on what he called a 'tam-thing'…the animal that Seiryuu has procured for you from his own court will find you when you get there"

With no further questions or comments, Keikomi waved to the Suzaku seishi and priestess as she suddenly disappeared from sight.

"…well…off to Mt. Reikaku!" Nuriko announced. He paused before flicking Tasuki's head with his pointer finger, "Stop dreaming of sake Fang Boy; you already had half a gold Ryo's worth today"

There was a pause as Tasuki peeled himself off the wall he had been sent flying into.

"So did you!"

And thus, the silence that Chiriko had so been hoping for once Keikomi and Tasuki were separated was gone as Nuriko took up Keikomi's role as the one to argue constantly with Tasuki. He sighed.

* * *

Review please. Next chapter, Kutou time! Meaning...twins, Soi, Tomo and NAKAGO!...and the other two...well...I'm not exactly fond of them...they weren't very funny. (pouts) and they killed Nuriko and Chiriko. (makes sad eyes) 


	11. Ryuujin: Dragon Extraordinaire!

Hey people! I finally have chapter 11 done! Sorry it took so long, but I've been busy. I'm absolutely horrible at Math, and yet, I was forced by my parents to take the grade 12 academic math class, which is one of the hardest math classes in the school, so I've been working my ass off trying to even _pass_ the class. And plus all the other crap I'm supposed to get done for my other classes, I just haven't had time to even look at this story.

And when I finally got the whole thing written, and looked over it so that I could post it, for some GODDAMN reason, the site kept saying something went wrong when I tried to upload the document. That got me so pissed off! But anyways, it's working again, and here's a chapter that's four months overdue...

* * *

Keikomi landed in a heap in the middle of what looked to be a rather dense forest, judging from the number of trees, obscuring her path every way she turned. She got up, rubbing her back, due to the fact that she had the misfortune to land on a couple of rocks. Cursing loudly, assuming that nobody could possibly be around to reprimand her for her language, she glared at the forest surrounding her. Trust Taiitsu-kun to send her _here_ of all places, she raged in her mind. 

" – supposed to fucking get out of this god forsaken forest?!" she finished her rant. Wondering if the Kutou counterpart of Akai would come if she stayed still long enough, she sat down on one of the rocks that was_ not_ covered with moss and waited for a few moments, thinking up ways that she could get out of the forest without getting lost as she did so.

Finding none and receiving no indication that the animal lord would be arriving anytime soon, she stood up, clutching her glaive in her hand, just in case a wild animal appeared to attack her. While she _did_ like most animals in general, she did not want to have to face a bear or something of the sort, unprepared. That would most assuredly get her either killed or severely injured.

"You should calm down before you destroy something " a smooth voice said from somewhere nearby. Keikomi whirled around quickly, glaive pointed out, "Show yourself"

"Well…at least you're straight to the point" to her surprise, a black coloured reptile came out of the trees. It had dark green hair all along its back and two slightly curved horns at the top of its head. Its underbelly was a silver-gray and looked deceivingly like metal.

_(AN: If anyone's ever looked at pictures of Chinese dragons, or watched Spirited Away, or even looked closely at a picture of Seiryuu in his dragon form, you'll notice that the dragons all have some kind of hair all along its back, but I don't know what exactly it is but it didn't make sense for me for them to have fur …so I'm calling it hair_)

At first impression, she thought it was a snake of some sort, before she noticed the qualities that made it look different from a snake. First of all, there was the way its face looked: it had a ferocious appearance, with a jaw lined meticulously with sharp (and no doubt dangerous and deadly) teeth, as well as the fact that it had a snout, which snakes did _not_ have. Second were the four limbs that the creature had. Third were the wings coming out of the creature's back.

"Er…hi?" Keikomi asked, unsure of what to make of this creature.

"Very eloquent" the creature said sarcastically.

Keikomi raised an eyebrow. Well, there was no doubt in her mind that this was the creature that Seiryuu had sent her, since it _talked_. There was just the question of _what_ it was. It looked like one of those dragons that were depicted in Chinese drawings: all serpentine and snake like, but she had never seen one where the dragon had _wings_. That trait tended to belong to the dragons of Western mythology.

"You're a dragon, right?" she asked.

"Good one genius. I'm Ryuujin, and you are?"

"Keikomi"

"Well. I suppose it's nice to meet you" Ryuujin said, with an air of self-importance. Keikomi briefly wondered if _all_ of the creatures were like that, "I hope that insufferable bird has not tainted your attitude too much"

"You mean Akai?" Keikomi made a face at the mention of the bird that seemed to make it his life's mission to argue with her.

"Yes…_him_" Ryuujin said with distaste.

Keikomi smiled suddenly. She had a feeling she would like this creature. She silently thanked Seiryuu in her mind, knowing that he could have been like Suzaku and given her a creature similar to Akai. Sure, Akai had gotten slightly less annoying with time, but he still annoyed the hell out of her every so often.

"Yes, Akai _is_ annoying isn't he?" she smirked.

Ryuujin looked up, and smirked back. Or what Keikomi presumed was a smirk since Ryuujin was a dragon. Having not met many dragons in her young and short life, she simply had to assume that that particular way of baring his teeth was a version of a smirk.

"So, anyways, do you know the way out of this forest?" Keikomi asked the dragon, "Or are you as lost as I am?"

"Excuse me? I do _not_ get lost! Dragons have a great sense of directions and as such – "

He faltered at the knowing smirk on Keikomi's face and sighed, "Fine! I get lost in forests, alright? I do fine when I'm not surrounded by useless trees though" he added.

Keikomi groaned, "So how're we gonna get out of here?"

"Well, I only got lost because I was told to stay to the ground until I found you" Ryuujin reasoned. He concentrated for a moment and grew in size. Grew a _lot_ in size. Keikomi's eyes widened as she backed away into the forest as the dragon continued to grow, destroying quite a few trees as he did so. She breathed a sigh of relief when he finally stopped growing, and cautiously approached the now rather large dragon.

"Get on" Ryuujin said in a deep, rumbling voice.

"O…kay?" Keikomi, eyes wide, leapt onto Ryuujin's back, somewhere near the middle.

"Not there; closer to my head" Ryuujin instructed, "Or you might fall off"

Once Keikomi was in a suitable place, he took off to the air, spreading his black wings and flapping them every so often. Keikomi, although shocked at first, was soon laughing as she flew through the air, holding gently but securely onto a section of Ryuujin's pelt. They flew over the dark and dense forest, and Keikomi realized exactly how much she would have needed to walk to get out of the forest on foot.

"This is great!" she called out to the dragon, laughing as the wind whipped through her hair.

Ryuujin did not answer, although Keikomi saw a faint baring of his teeth and knew he was doing the dragon version of the grin. They landed in a secluded field just a bit away from the forest, and Keikomi got off, watching as Ryuujin changed back to his former size.

"That was amazing!" Keikomi grinned happily, loving the feeling of flying, "So you can choose what size you want to be?"

"Yes, it's a gift Seiryuu gave me when I was hatched" the dragon answered, as he coiled himself around her like a snake, "It has come in useful, especially now"

"I'll say. I don't think the general population would think it normal to see a girl walking next to a large dragon"

"I agree"

"So where should I be heading now?" Keikomi asked, "You probably know more about this country than I do"

"That way" Ryuujin raised a claw and pointed at an angle to their left, "That will lead you to the nearest town"

"I wish I had a bike, or a car" Keikomi mused as she trudged her poor, overworked feet, in the direction that Ryuujin had indicated. She began to plot ways to convince Taiitsu-kun that yes, bringing a motorized vehicle into this world, was a _good_ thing.

* * *

Keikomi sighed, looking at the small group in front of her, wondering if this would happen every time she came upon a city in a new country, alone and without a seishi. A group of men, not that different in their stance from the ones she had encountered in Eiyou, stood in front of her, looking at her as if expecting her to run away screaming or something of the sort. 

She raised an eyebrow slowly and stared back.

"You're weird" Ryuujin commented, still coiled around her like a protective shield and Keikomi had no doubt that he was itching to use those fangs of his.

One of the men jumped when he saw Ryuujin raise his head and the dragon flashed its eyes dangerously at the group.

"Is that a snake?" the man asked.

"Does it _look_ like a snake?" another one countered.

"But I swear it hissed!"

"I see the Gods' spells are working" Ryuujin said smugly to Keikomi.

"Spells?" Keikomi asked under her breath so only the dragon could hear her.

"Yes. When I, Akai, and the rest of the animal lords were chosen to aid you, the Gods placed a spell on each of us, enabling it so that while we could converse with you, mere mortals would only hear sounds of the animal we were closest to being. Since they have never met dragons, my words come out like a serpent's" Ryuujin explained, still eyeing the group of men.

"Well, I doubt they're gonna let us pass, so what d'you say to a bit of exercise?"

Ryuujin simply adopted a feral look.

* * *

Not too long later, Keikomi hummed to herself as she dug through the pockets of the men, taking a third of the money in the money bags, and leaving the rest for the unconscious men. 

"Isn't this sort of…stealing?" Ryuujin asked.

"Call it a prize for winning" Keikomi countered, not even batting an eyelash at the accusation.

"Alright" Ryuujin agreed after some thought.

"Hey, they had water!" Keikomi shouted gleefully, pouring what was left in the canteen over her head, enjoying the cold comfort that the liquid provided. Walking in the sun for that long was tedious work after all. Once Keikomi had taken all that she wanted, she continued in the direction she had been going and not much later, had arrived in the town.

"This is Wengqian" Ryuujin told her, "It's…well…"

"I get the picture clearly" she said dryly. The town did not exactly make a good first impression on her. For one thing, there were drunken men passed out in the middle of the streets and it was not even sunset yet. Broken bottles littered the ground, as well as what looked like stains of blood on the buildings. The women here were different from the ones in Eiyou, and Konan; for one, they had a permanently disheveled look about them. Keikomi had a sneaking suspicion that their occupations (if they had one) were less than respectable.

"You think they have an inn in this town? I'm really tired…" she yawned, her eyes drooping, threatening to close on her.

"I wouldn't trust it even if they did" Ryuujin said thoughtfully, "But I suppose there's nowhere else to go. You look ready to collapse right here"

"I spent all day walking, so shut up. So…inn?" she asked, not bothering to form another complete sentence.

"Yes. And get there fast before you _do_ collapse" Ryuujin eyed her warily, "Why are you so tired anyways?"

"_I_ was the one walking for an entire day in the searing hot sun" Keikomi retorted.

The inn looked just as desolate and unkempt as the rest of the town. It looked like nobody had bothered trying to fix it up or clean it for years. In fact, a few shingles fell from the roof as the two approached. The dragon and the Warrior glanced at each other dubiously.

"…Somehow, the streets seem more reassuring" Keikomi said aloud, "Half of the roof is missing…"

"Yeah…" Ryuujin said in barely disguised horrified amazement.

"Should we go in?" the Warrior asked in trepidation. Before Ryuujin could answer, a shadow fell over them and Keikomi twisted around, a freshly stolen dagger quickly pulled out of her jacket. Ryuujin narrowed his eyes suspiciously; her movements were rather slow compared to before. Was she _that_ exhausted?

"Quick reflexes" a man sneered. Keikomi could only gape at the size of the man, for he was quite tall, towering over her respectable height of 5'10. In fact, if she had to guess his height, she would say that he was about 6'5 or taller. She could not help, however, but feel slightly sick when she saw the abundance of muscles on the man, which made him look quite disgusting indeed.

"What the hell do you want?" she snapped, trying not to feel revolted at how close he was standing to her.

"You, miss, have caught our interest"

"Our? I only see one of you" Keikomi snarled defensively. Ryuujin made a sound that sounded like the furious hissing noises that snakes often made when angry.

A large hand grabbed Keikomi's arm from behind and Keikomi whirled around – or at least tried to – shooting daggers out of her eyes at whoever had just touched her, "Let go off me!" she snarled to the second person, only temporarily stupefied at how much the two men had in common in terms of size.

"Perhaps you should count properly then" Man number two said, leering at her.

"I told you to let go of me" Keikomi said in a deathly calm voice.

"You're coming with us" the first man grunted out, grabbing her other arm.

"Let go of me!" Keikomi yelled, using her still free legs to kick wildly at them. Catching one right in the crotch, a satisfied smile crossed her face briefly as she tried to get out of the grip of the other one while the one she had kicked was temporarily doubled over in pain.

Ryuujin hissed his approval as he bit the arm of the one still holding her arm tightly. It would have been a good move on his part, if not for the fact that instead of letting go, the man tightened his hold and twisted around to try to grab the reptile. Keikomi's face went a few shades paler as pain circulated quickly through her arm.

"FUCK! That hurt you damn bastard!" she cried out, attempting to yank her injured arm out of his grasp. He had her in a death grip, however, and her arm's injured state would not be able to put up with breaking free of the grip without damaging the arm further. The fact that she had completely no energy from walking in the sun all day might have something to do with that also.

"You're coming with us"

The second man had recovered, it seemed, and took a hold of her other arm again. Keikomi growled in anger, her metallic green eyes flashing with fury, "Let me go!" she yelled, lifting her leg to kick the man right in the ribs. A clang was heard and Keikomi snarled with frustration when she realized that the man was wearing armor under his clothes.

Suddenly, she felt something grab her leg as she was attempting to kick the other man and she looked on in horrified realization when the man who had injured her arm before, twisted it roughly at an impossible angle. She clenched her teeth in pain as she was dragged off by the two unknown men. As she twisted around again, ignoring the pain resonating from her arm and her leg, one of the man suddenly grabbed a hold of her chin and she spluttered as some sort of liquid was shoved down her throat.

She snarled angrily at them, trying to hit them again. She wanted to wipe those goddamn arrogant smirks off their faces, to beat the shit out of them for even _touching _her. She...

Why was everything spinning?

* * *

Well, there you go. Chapter 11. It's actually kinda short compared to the last chapter, but whatever. It gets interesting in Kutou so I'll probably be able to write more anyways. Please review. 


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